Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9, Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, aims to further economic advancement through investment in infrastructure, industrialization, and innovation. Implementing SDG 9, however, requires the realization of complex synergies and careful management of its potential disconnects. Positions about the role of international law in such matters differ significantly and depend on how SDG 9 and international law are conceptualized. Some, for instance, view international law’s trade and investment treaties, complemented by the ‘soft law’ standards developed by international institutions, as instrumental in realizing SDG 9’s synergies. Others view international law’s environmental and human rights treaties, and the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards developed by international institutions, as paramount to manage the disconnects of SDG 9. The emergence of an ‘ESG normative space’ – involving state and non-state actors in norm creation, application, enforcement, and development – might provide an opportunity for unpacking and reconciling competing interests and conceptions.