John Sturrock writes:
Before the world was overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic, I wrote a blog for the Kluwer website, suggesting some sort of initiative by mediators to promote environmentally friendly dispute management and resolution.
I commented that we know that mediation is a sustainable, efficient, cost-effective way to resolve disputes and other differences. As a mediation community, we have often talked about how we might mediate climate change issues. We have probably not spent the same amount of time talking about how, as a community, we might address climate change in our own behaviour and practices.
At the time of writing, it seemed a great idea. However, the onset of the pandemic put even climate change in the shade for a while as that emergency seemed to overtake all other issues.
Then, of course, mediators were among those trying to adapt by using online platforms like Zoom. That things can change so fast seemed quite remarkable. What I had originally written felt like something from another era. Read on…..
A Call to Action:
The time has come to address our contribution to the climate emergency facing us all. The move which many of us have made to online mediation in response to the pandemic has shown us that environmentally friendly ways of mediating can be both easily accessible and highly effective.
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The Pledge:
Promoting the Mediators’ Green Pledge is now the purpose of this site. It seems to be one way to commit to our future. We invite you to sign up to the Pledge and promote it to those you know and work with.
You can view all signatories on the Signatories page.
An evolving project:
The WoMACC Facilitators’ Group will meet at least annually to review the pledge. We would be delighted to receive your comments on the pledge itself and in particular its impact. There is a page on this website with some examples of the Pledge in practice.
Translations:
We are really pleased that the Pledge is now available in a number of languages. If you can help with a translation of the Pledge, authentically, into another language, please let us know.
Supporters:
We encourage support from mediation providers and organisations. Many have requested that their logos be featured on our Supporters page.
Correspondence:
Please note that we shall not be able to respond to emails immediately. We shall be monitoring correspondence from time to time.