Because of their quasi-unilateral protection of foreign investment, international investments agreements (IIAs) have severely limited the ‘marge de manœuvre’ of states in their sovereign exercise of safeguarding the public interest. Unlike the first generation of IIAs, new, more complex agreements contain provisions or chapters devoted to sustainable development or climate change. The EU has been very active in the quest for a new balance. It has adopted a model agreement designed to encourage trade and investment in green technologies, with provisions for sustainable development. The EU incorporates climate change provisions into the sustainable development chapters of its agreements. In addition, the EU is seeking to further clarify investment protection provisions and recognize the right of the state to regulate in the public interest. This article seeks to determine whether the European approach is truly in harmony with climate change objectives. It examines the appropriateness of these recent changes for Asian countries. It also assesses whether and how the new language of international investment agreements could make a real difference in resolving climate disputes, and whether it guarantees the regulatory space that states need for this purpose. It concludes that while this conventional rewriting exercise may give states ‘une marge de manœuvre supplémentaire’, it is still far from leading to a fundamental paradigm shift.