The Campaign for Greener Arbitrations

The Campaign for Greener Arbitrations began as a promise by an international arbitrator to manage her arbitrations in an environmentally friendly manner. In 2019, Lucy Greenwood launched what she termed her ‘Green Pledge’ to minimise the impact of her arbitration practice on the environment.

The Green Pledge caught the attention of the wider arbitration community and soon hundreds of individuals had signed up to the pledge. Lucy realised that while the Green Pledge worked for those who practised as arbitrators, the arbitration community was keen to get behind a broader campaign to address the waste and unnecessary travel that often occurred in international arbitrations. As a result, she brought together representatives of key stakeholders in international arbitrations to spearhead the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations. Individuals from arbitration institutions, arbitrators, law firms, hearing venues, third party funders, conference organisers, legal journalists, legal technology providers and corporate clients have come together to reinforce the message that we all share responsibility for reducing the carbon footprint of our industry.

The Guiding Principles of the Campaign revolve around three main objectives:

1) Questioning the need to fly,
2) Reducing waste (for example, by eliminating hard copy filings altogether), and
3) Using green energy sources.

In 2020, the Campaign created a set of six Green Protocols to provide targeted guidance to various stakeholders in the arbitration community. The Green Protocols along with their accompanying Framework for the Adoption of the Green Protocols set forth the framework for the implementation of the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations Guiding Principles. They were created to assist participants in the field of arbitration to reduce their contribution to the environmental footprint of arbitral proceedings by providing easy-to-use practical guidance and best practices to each type of actor in arbitral proceedings in adopting sustainable behaviours. They can be put into place by larger structures across the board, or by individuals within those structures seeking to move towards greener practices. The six Green Protocols and a Model Green Procedural Order provide guidance for arbitration proceedings, arbitrators, institutions, law firms and service providers, hearing venues, and conference organizers.