A/HRC/45/29 of social infrastructure in the global South necessary to sustain the full range of social and economic protections would be identified as targets for development cooperation and solidarity policies at the global, regional and national levels, in accordance with the Declaration on the Right to Development, under which all States and all persons had a responsibility for development and States must work individually and collectively to create an internationally enabling environment in which the benefits of development were equitably shared by all. The emphasis on equity in the right to development provides a direct linkage with the notion of sustainable development. The effect of debts and unilateral sanctions on the right to development and social and economic protection systems would be studied as obstacles to the realization of human rights. 26. The fourth thematic study would be on the right to development in international investment law. International investment law afforded protection to foreign investors and their investments while recognizing a State’s right to regulate its affairs and to protect the interests of its population. The study would explore the current and potential relevance of the right to development in international investment law as one of those interests, including its use as a justification for conduct by a State, negating its liability to a foreign investor. The study would take account of the wider debate as to whether provisions of bilateral investment treaties should be read in the light of human rights law and case practice thus far. It would consider whether the Declaration on the Right to Development provided an adequate basis for invoking the right to development in international investment law disputes. The study would also assess whether new bilateral investment treaties should expressly refer to the host State’s human rights obligations or include a specific reference to the right to development or to the Declaration. 27. The final thematic study to be undertaken during the current three-year term of the Expert Mechanism would be a field study on non-State actors and the duty to cooperate. The aim of the study would be to focus on the duty to cooperate in overcoming obstacles to the implementation of the right to development on the ground. While the duty to cooperate applied primarily to States, in the study it would be taken to imply a broader partnership with non-State actors, consistent with the use of the term “all stakeholders” in the 2030 Agenda (see also articles 13 and 29 of the draft convention on the right to development (A/HRC/WG.2/21/2, annex) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework). The study would include an on-site investigation of a situation involving a local community whose enjoyment of rights had been affected not only by the State, but also by external actors: a private non-State actor (a foreign company or non-governmental organization), an intergovernmental organization, and the home State of the non-State actor. It could either focus on a situation in which cooperation had been attempted and evaluate the cooperation against the duty to cooperate, as an example of best practice, or focus on a situation in which cooperation was lacking, in order to show how implementation of the duty to cooperate could have greatly assisted in protecting the rights of the rights holders. V. Adoption of the report and recommendations 28. The Expert Mechanism adopted the present report by consensus ad referendum. 29. The Expert Mechanism also adopted the following recommendations for consideration and approval by the Human Rights Council at its forty-fifth session. Recommendation 1: Participation in the Working Group on the Right to Development The Human Rights Council requests the Expert Mechanism to participate in the sessions of the Working Group on the Right to Development and to actively contribute and provide expert advice to the Working Group in order to support the effective implementation of its mandate. Recommendation 2: Thematic studies of the Expert Mechanism The Human Rights Council requests the Expert Mechanism to prepare and submit to the Council one to two thematic studies per year in the discharge of its mandate. 6