The Campaign for Greener Arbitrations has made tremendous strides in raising environmental awareness within the international arbitration community since its inception in 2019. Founded by Lucy Greenwood (chartered arbitrator and founder of Greenwood Arbitration), the Campaign endeavors to promote greener practices in the field of international arbitration by encouraging practitioners to sign the Green Pledge, by which they undertake to reduce the carbon footprint of their practices by, among other things, minimising paper usage and travel to the extent possible. Further information on the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations can be found in the Practice Note: Greener Practice in International Arbitration.

Whereas the arbitration community was somewhat slow in responding to the Campaign’s call for action, the government-imposed restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19 quickly showed practitioners that even large, complex, arbitrations could be fully conducted online, without the need for hard copy submissions and physical hearings.