Freshfields wins inaugural Green Arbitration Award
On July 1, 2021, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer received the inaugural 2021 Campaign for Greener Arbitration Award for Sustainable Behavior at the Global Arbitration Review (GAR) Awards 2021 virtual ceremony. Freshfields won the award for having established a Green Arbitration Task Force to further reduce the carbon footprint of its global international arbitration practice through the implementation of the Green Pledge Principles and for the firm’s 5-year environment strategy which includes the Reforestation in East Africa Programme (REAP), a carbon offsetting program supporting the livelihoods of 9,000 farmers in Kenya and Uganda while enhancing gender equality. Boris Kasolowsky, co-head of Freshfields’ international arbitration group, who accepted the award during the ceremony commented: “We can change our world for the better daily. This important initiative is a great way for all of the Freshfields arbitration practitioners to play their part.”
The Campaign for Greener Arbitration – which itself won the GAR Award for Best Development in 2020 – is an initiative launched by independent arbitrator Lucy Greenwood in 2019 to reduce the carbon footprint of the arbitration community. According to the organization, around 20,000 trees (or the equivalent of the tree population of Central Park in New York) are necessary to offset the carbon emissions of a mid-sized arbitration. A few months ago, the Campaign launched a Green Pledge with eight Guiding Principles to raise awareness of this significant carbon footprint within the arbitration community. On Earth Day 2021, the Campaign released a Framework and set of Protocols to promote better environmental behavior through a series of action items geared towards the various actors of the arbitration community. The Protocols serve as practical guidance for implementing the tenets of the Guiding Principles.
Freshfields was one of the first global law firms to sign the Pledge – which has now been signed by over 600 hundred individuals and organizations – committing to its principles towards greener arbitrations, and thereby taking an additional step in the firm’s innovative global environmental strategy. The firm has been committed to carbon neutrality since 2007, and since 2015 has done so through an award-winning carbon offsetting program, the Reforestation in East Africa Programme (REAP). Freshfields’ current ambitious global environmental targets include reducing paper usage by 40% by 2025, phasing out single-use plastics in all offices by the end of 2021, reducing carbon from business travel by 30% by 2025 and power all offices with 100% renewable electricity by 2030. Timothy Wilkins, Freshfields’ Global Partner for Client Sustainability, commented: ”The Pledge represents a wonderful synthesis of how we can collaborate with clients to practice law and deliver results in the most environmentally positive way. The international arbitration team has set the gold standard by which other practice groups at the firm will aspire to emulate. I’m thrilled to see them honored in this way.”
Shortly after signing the Pledge, Freshfields’ international arbitration group established a Global Task Force to implement the principles of the Green Pledge and further reduce its carbon footprint. Noiana Marigo, head of the firm’s international arbitration practice in the Americas and co-head of the Latin America practice commented: “This initiative further illustrates the role our International Arbitration Group plays in shaping thought-leadership in new and emerging areas of international arbitration. Over the past few years, the team has also played a significant role in the development of The Equal Representation in Arbitration (ERA) Pledge, which seeks to increase, on an equal opportunity basis, the number of women appointed as arbitrators and the profile of female practitioners within the profession.”
GAR had compiled the shortlist for this inaugural award with the help of the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations’ Steering Committee, comprised of a diverse group of individuals representing key stakeholders of the international arbitration community. Other nominations for this year’s award included the following:
CMS for launching a carbon footprint app to encourage behavioral change (February 2020)
The Chancery Lane Project’s release of the Climate Contract Playbook and Green Paper of Model Laws (February 2020)
Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) for their appointment of a designated Green Ambassador
Herbert Smith Freehills for their travel offsetting program supporting the Sichuan Household Biogas Programme and targeting net-zero carbon emissions by 2030
Christine Falcicchio of SopraLegal for chairing the Working Group of the Green Protocols
Clifford Chance for their pro-bono work with the World Economic Forum in relation to Climate Change.