Reducing Carbon Footprints Through Greener Arbitration Procedures

In the 50th year of Stockholm Conference, the necessity for greener practices in the dispute resolution spaces have increased manifold. In India, the policies around carbon footprint reduction have been nothing short of fandangle, finding no stipulated place in the legislation. Though a large number of promises and roadmap have been laid down and exhibited by the Prime Minister at the COP26 Summit in Glasgow in 2021, the implementation must be done with iron hands to ensure the final balance in terms of Sustainable Development Goals.

The International Arbitration Community must be eternally grateful to Lucy Greenwood, who initiated the Campaign for Greener Arbitration that enshrined the core value under the Green Pledge, which till now has been signed up by major stakeholders involved in Arbitration across the globe. The arbitration community has thus come together as an informed and responsible environment - conscious group who are looking out to undo and reverse the major impact of arbitration practice on the environment, thereby reducing the carbon footprint.

Major international arbitrations have been found to have caused huge carbon emissions and a closely monitored study has shown how planting of  20,000 trees can combat the equal amount of carbon emissions. Long-haul flights also contribute to one-third of this amount of emissions. Recently, the e-committee at the Supreme Court headed by Justice DY Chandrachud has been voicing the need for greener practices at the Apex Court and have stressed on the necessity to go paperless. At the programme of the 'Paperless District Courts’ in Orissa project, Justice Chandrachud mentioned,“today, a ‘Green Bench’ does not mean a Bench hearing environmental cases but a Bench which aims to conduct proceedings with zero physical filings, as will hopefully be the case in paperless courts”. Though this advice has been directed towards a wider acceptance of technology- driven methods at the Court, they can contribute significantly to lowering the carbon-emissions nonetheless

Previously in a circular by the Supreme Court dated the 5 March, 2020, modifications have been sought to be made in the filing of  cases to reduce carbon footprint and ensure least wastage.

The Campaign for Greener Arbitration, through their Steering Committee have supervised the behaviour during several international arbitrations and revamped  a model that would act as guiding principles and protocols. These six Green Protocols and a Framework for the Adoption of the Green Protocols aims at suggesting the best practice model for such international arbitration and can be listed as follows:

●Green Protocol for Arbitral Proceedings and the Model Green Procedural Order (providing guidance on conducting an arbitration from start to finish in a more sustainable manner);

●Green Protocol for Arbitrators;

●Green Protocol for Arbitral Institution 

●Green Protocol for Law Firms, Chambers and Legal Service Providers Working in Arbitration; 

●Green Protocol for Arbitration Conferences; and

●Green Protocol for Arbitral Hearing Venues.

Thus every stakeholder in Arbitration can benefit from such guiding principles with separate advisory laid down for all to ensure the least carbon footprint.

It is imperative to mention that Greener Policies have been recently adopted by several arbitral institutions during and after the pandemic for convenience of the stakeholders, but in retrospect they can prove to be very efficient in reducing the Carbon footprint. They mostly stress on use of technology and remote means for hearing in arbitrations and embracing of digital technologies for the proceedings. They can be listed as follows:

1. LCIA Arbitration Rules, 2020( Articles 4.1, 4.2, 19.2)

2. ICC Arbitration Rules, 2021( Article 26.1)

3. Section 2 and Section 3  of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Arbitrator Guidelines etc.

Conclusively, these suggestions have been laid forward that would be able to engage and implement a better carbon-neutrality management cycle and carbon-offsetting in dispute practices, especially in Arbitrations: 

1. Reduction of long haul flights by return flights at every stage of arbitration

2. Elimination of hard-copy, papers in the filing during arbitration

3. Promotion of e-filing and use of electronic bundles at hearing 

4. Eliminating usage of disposable coffee cups during arbitration

5. Emphasis on video-conferencing rather than travelling, etc.

6. Having separate Green Building to conduct such arbitral proceedings

7. Climate Policy monitoring in the arbitral proceedings through CO2 Scorecards that shall enable a more organized data for future control of carbon emissions.

Thus, one must understand that the greener practices in dispute resolution have taken up an important position and shall continue to provide the way forward in the near future.

The environmental concerns must be the driving force behind the major adjudication procedures available across the globe and the ultimate goal of net-zero emission must not remain unfulfilled. Policy frameworks must work in the direction of inclusivity and technology must be made more accessible for practitioners in order to upgrade from physical methods to virtual methods that are better for the environment.

With the rise in concerns for the environment, the changes should be mandated through policy implementation and the revisions must be inclusive as to keep in mind the status of all the stakeholders. The technology has acted as a boon during and after the pandemic and the availability of resources shall promote such an inclusive environment where the shift from paper to virtual shall be smooth and effortless.

The International Bar Association in 2020 had revised the method of taking evidence in International Arbitration and has Environmental protection as one of the primary concerns and clauses while promoting virtual hearing of evidence (Article 8.2).

These small amendments are the stepping stones for the future where the amalgamation of technology and green arbitration shall change the dimensions of International Arbitration scenes and with the embracing of ESG practices in law firms, the carbon-emissions shall be kept in control and sustainability shall serve as the only driving force behind dispute resolution.