A/HRC/39/18 well as the right to development, which in turn implies a duty to carry out due diligence of conducting human rights impact assessment of such measures. 20 One of the targets under Sustainable Development Goal 17 is to “respect each country’s policy space and leadership to establish and implement policies for poverty eradication and sustainable development” (target 17.15).21 Hence, respecting the policy space of countries as an expression of their right to self-determination is important to promote sustainable development and to address inequalities among countries.22 44. Particularly in the field of international investment law, balancing the rights of investors with self-determination and national sovereignty over natural resources is important for protecting an enabling policy space for the realization of the right to development of developing countries. The enforcement of bilateral investment agreements should be compatible with States’ international human rights obligations and international human rights instruments, including allowing for nationalization of resources for preserving the rights of indigenous peoples. 23 International investment policies, agreements and dispute settlement provisions should be revised to safeguard the policy space necessary for the realization of human rights.24 45. The Declaration on the Right to Development also affirms States’ obligation to take resolute steps to eliminate massive and flagrant violations of human rights “affected by situations such as … colonialism, foreign domination and occupation, aggression, foreign interference and threats against national sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity, threats of war and refusal to recognize the fundamental right of peoples to selfdetermination” (art. 5). These relate to the subjugation of one nation or people to another, a process which is enabled by and exacerbates inequality among countries, and denies the right to development of the peoples whose self-determination is violated. 25 The 2030 Agenda calls “for further effective measures and actions to be taken, in conformity with international law, to remove the obstacles to the full realization of the right of selfdetermination of peoples living under colonial and foreign occupation, which continue to adversely affect their economic and social development as well as their environment” (para. 35). C. Duty to cooperate to ensure development and to remove obstacles from development 46. According to the Declaration on the Right to Development “States have the duty to cooperate with each other in ensuring development and eliminating obstacles to development” and the full realization of human rights (art. 3 (3)). The duty of international cooperation, in this context, includes the duty to seek, in good faith, to conclude and implement international agreements that contribute to the realization of the right to development. 26 Several specific provisions of the Declaration detail how the duty to cooperate should be carried out. States “should realize their rights and fulfil their duties in such a manner as to promote a new international economic order based on sovereign 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 See, e.g., A/HRC/37/54. The indicators related to the Sustainable Development Goals can be found in General Assembly resolution 71/313, annex IV. For an analysis of how international investment agreements have affected the right to development, see paper by Bhumika Muchhala, “International investment agreements and industrialization: realizing the right to development and the Sustainable Development Goals”, available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/Pages/19thSession.aspx. See, for example, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case of Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Community v. Paraguay, Judgment of 29 March 2006, para. 140. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), “Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development” (2015), UNCTAD/DIAE/PCB/2015/5, pp. 19, 31, 33, 78–79, 82, 85, 117 and 119. See A/71/554, paras. 38–59 and 61; see also UNCTAD/GDS/APP/2017/2, pp. 38–40. See “The international dimensions of the right to development: a fresh start towards improving accountability”. 9