Climate Contract Playbook Edition 3
234
[Toby’s clause] NEW
The Origin Story
Child’s name
Toby’s clause
Avoidance of excessive paperwork in Dispute Resolution – including both litigation and arbitration.
Full name
Practice Area / Sector
Dispute Resolution
Litigation and arbitration create considerable and unnecessary amounts of physical paperwork and printing. Paper is energy intensive and has a significant carbon and water footprint.
Issue
A contractual obligation between the parties stating that, in the event of a dispute, parties agree to litigate/arbitrate in a ‘green’ manner. This would include using an electronic bundle rather than hard copy documents, and agreement on waste disposal of the bundle should a hard copy be required.
Solution
Use of a paper bundle could be conditioned on a tree planting obligation to offset the paper usage and emissions produced.
Commercial contracts often contain a disputes clause that states the preferred method of dispute resolution in the event that a dispute arises in relation to that contract. The production of paper accounts for the destruction of approximately 4.1 million hectares of trees per year 135 . The paper industry uses over 40% of all industrial wood traded globally, with factors such as irresponsible tree harvesting increasing the size of the carbon footprint attributed to this industry 136 . 1. Within litigation and arbitration, large volumes of paper bundles are created. Multiple copies are often needed, with a notable amount of paper being wasted. This is despite many documents starting out as electronic files, particularly in IT disputes or those involving drawings/plans. 2. With Covid-19, we have seen the Courts move to electronic hearings and electronic bundles. It has demonstrated the possibility to resolve a dispute remotely and without hard copy documentation/evidence.
Context
135 https://paperontherocks.com/2018/11/28/environmental-impact-of-deforestation-paper-production/ 136 https://www.worldwildlife.org/industries/pulp-and-paper
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