Chancery Lane Project: Lawyers Fighting Climate Change with Contracts
Lawyers worldwide are fighting the climate crisis one contract at a time through The Chancery Lane Project (TCLP). TCLP’s 2021 Impact Report explores how a rapidly expanding group of lawyers and legal professionals – 1,100 and counting – are drafting innovative contractual clauses that are being adopted across multiple industry sectors and practice areas.
TCLP is a pro bono initiative that brings together legal professionals globally to rewrite contracts to support communities and businesses in fighting the climate crisis and achieving net zero carbon emissions. Thomson Reuters has supported TCLP since the group formed in 2019.
For two years, TCLP has hosted events where legal professionals collaborate to draft new climate-friendly contract clauses. The 2021 Impact Report gauges the impact of their work, which includes drafting 70 climate clauses and 46 definitions, with an additional 40 clauses to be published soon. Notably, TCLP participants include all of the UK’s top 25 law firms and more than half of the UK’s top 100 law firms.
“Following the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the state of the climate, the alarm bells and calls to action have become deafening,” said Matthew Gingell, TCLP chair and general counsel at Oxygen House Group. “The Chancery Lane Project is embracing this challenge and is committed to enabling the legal profession to create the best climate outcomes as fast as possible. Every day, in offices across the world, lawyers are using our tools to make a difference and up the ante in the Race to Zero. That is why I believe that if we change the precedent, we change the world.”
Later this month, TCLP will release a Net Zero Toolkit that will show legal professionals how to draft climate-friendly legal agreements to help their clients deliver their net zero targets. The toolkit is in advance of the COP26 summit, the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties being held in Glasgow from Oct. 31 – Nov. 12.
Read TCLP’s 2021 Impact Report and case studies, and learn how to get involved.
Also, watch Legal Current for more on TCLP, including how 25 Practical Law resources reference TCLP clauses.
