Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) is thrilled to reveal that it has signed the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations’ Green Pledge, which strives to limit the impact of arbitration practices on the environment.

By signing the Green Pledge, arbitration practitioners commit to minimise the environmental impact of their practice by looking for opportunities to reduce energy consumption and waste. Initiatives include avoiding unnecessary travel; using, where possible, suppliers that are committed to reducing their carbon footprint; encouraging the use of videoconferencing facilities; and avoiding printing and the need for hard-copy correspondence, amongst others.

The Campaign for Greener Arbitrations seeks to raise awareness of the significant carbon footprint of dispute resolution. It addresses the need for environmentally sustainable practices in arbitration and encourages all stakeholders to commit to its guiding principles and reduce their carbon footprint when resolving disputes.

Global Sustainability Lead Ben Churchill commented: “WFW already encourages and implements many of the initiatives outlined by the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations, so it made perfect sense for us to join other law firms, chambers and arbitration providers in signing the Green Pledge which aligns with our sustainability strategy focussed on our three pillars of people, planet and practices. Building on our support for the Greener Litigation Initiative, this is another indication of WFW’s commitment to promoting and embedding sustainable practices across our operations”.

WFW has long been committed to integrating and promoting sustainability across its core sectors of transport, energy and infrastructure as demonstrated by the firm’s role in helping develop the Poseidon Principles for the maritime industry and advising the Aviation Working Group on the development of its ESG framework. The firm also publicly committed to the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2022 and is currently undertaking an independent third-party assessment of its global environmental footprint ahead of setting firm-wide carbon reduction targets and a supporting carbon management plan.