8 October 2021
Herbert Smith Freehills has signed the Green Pledge of the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations (the CGA), after acting as an institutional supporter of the CGA for the past year.
The CGA is a global initiative aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of arbitral proceedings. Signatories of the Green Pledge make a commitment in their personal capacity to minimise the environmental impact of the arbitrations in which they are involved. The focus of the Green Pledge is, in particular, on the reduction of the environmental impact associated with travel and the use of paper. Other commitments set out in the Green Pledge include corresponding electronically, unless hard copy correspondence is expressly needed, encouraging the use of videoconferencing facilities as an alternative to travel, and avoiding printing.
The Green Pledge and the CGA were founded by the independent arbitrator Lucy Greenwood in 2019. The Green Pledge quickly gained traction in the wider international arbitration community. As a result, the CGA has been joined by key stakeholders in the international arbitration community, including arbitrators, representatives of law firms and arbitral institutions, third party funders, conference organisers, corporate clients and legal technology providers.
Herbert Smith Freehills has given significant institutional support to the initiative. Senior Associate Maguelonne de Brugiere is a member of the CGA’s Steering Committee, and Associate Helin Laufer co-heads the CGA Europe Sub-committee, which comprises arbitrators, practitioners and representatives of various arbitral institutions from over 30 European jurisdictions.
Maguelonne de Brugiere is also a member of the Drafting Committee which drafted and published a set of six Green Protocols (the Green Protocols). The Green Protocols aim to promote better environmental behaviour through a series of action items. The six Green Protocols are tailored to the conduct of arbitral proceedings (and include a model procedural order), law firms, arbitrators, arbitration conferences, hearing venues, and arbitral institutions. The Green Protocols are accompanied by a framework document which explains the background of the Green Protocols and the Green Pledge.
Herbert Smith Freehills’ decision to sign the Green Pledge is a significant step in meeting our target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2030, and supports our firm-wide global sustainability strategy. It also forms part of a wider initiative within our global arbitration practice to provide our clients with options for a more sustainable arbitration process. For more information about our commitment to environmental sustainability, in arbitration and more widely, please the 11th issue of Inside Arbitration: ‘Towards Greener Arbitrations’, which is available here.
The firm has also signed the Greener Litigation Pledge recently. For more information, please see our post on Litigation Notes.
For further information, please contact:
Craig Tevendale, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills
craig.tevendale@hsf.com
