November 2022
On 29 November 2022, signatories from across the world joined together to consider the practicalities of Living with the Pledge. We were privileged to be joined by Professor Klaus Bosselman, winner of the 2021 Carlowitz Sustainability Award, who shared his thoughts on ‘The meaning of sustainability, its importance for decision-making and how it can inform mediation practices and ethics.‘ A panel discussion on Living with the Pledge was lead by signatories Anna Doyle and Nicola Hartfield. You can watch Klaus’ presentation and the panel discussion here.
Earlier in the month, Sabine König spoke about the Pledge and how it came to be at International Mediation Awareness Week. You can see her presentation here.
September 2022
On 21 September 2022, Anna Howard spoke about the Mediators’ Green Pledge at the International Mediation Institute’s International Peace Day Conference. As part of a panel discussing the Mediators Green Pledge and Mediating Environmental, Social and Governance Issues, Anna drew on The Future We Choose by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac to explore the mindsets needed to reduce our impact on the environment and collectively create a better future.
June 2022
The Mediators’ Green Pledge was discussed at the International Leipzig Mediation Forum on 27 June 2022 during Anna Howard’s seminar on EU cross-border commercial mediation. Participants identified the increasing interest from companies in using mediation as a way in which to comply with their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) responsibilities.
May 2022
London International Disputes Week
John Sturrock, together with Lucy Greenwood of the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations and Jenny Hindly of Greener Litigation, gave the Keynote Opening Address at London International Disputes Week.
You can watch the presentation here with the kind permission of London International Disputes Week (LIDW).
28 & 29 April 2022
Earth Day events
22 April 22 was Earth Day. To celebrate, we hosted two on-line events for our signatories on Thursday 28 and Friday 29 April. As in November, the events were participatory with signatories from all over the world joining together to talk about how they are implementing the Pledge.
We were delighted to welcome, as our keynote speaker, Noam Ebner, Professor of Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Creighton University, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies.
You can watch Noam’s inspiring and challenging presentation here.
We were also delighted to welcome Ber-Barry Murray, President of the Mediators’ Institute of Ireland, who was interviewed by Anna Howard about the commitment the MII has made to the Mediators’ Green Pledge. You can watch the interview here.
The outline programme for the events can be found here.
26 – 28 April 2022
Susan Andrews spoke about the Pledge at ODR Expotech 2022
25 November 2021
Times Legal Review
In Scotland, the Times annual review of the legal profession published this piece.
5 November 2021
During COP 26, we held two special online seminars for signatories to the Green Pledge, to discuss how we can promote the Pledge, what the challenges are and how as mediators we can support each other as we try to reduce our carbon emissions and help the planet to survive climate change. Inspirational guest keynote speakers were William Ury, of Getting to Yes fame, and Tat Lim, the well known international mediator based in Singapore, together with Kai-Uwe Karl of GE Renewables. View the video recording of the keynote contributions here.
A brief summary of the ideas captured by the attendees can be found here.
The full programme for these events can be found here. In the new year, we shall be following up with an action plan building on the great ideas generated in the breakout discussions.
6 October 2021
The Mediators Green Pledge was mentioned by Damian Croker from ODRPlat (a Supporting Organisation) at the UNMAP Conference on UN Sustainability Goals on 5th October in the context of its contribution to reducing the carbon footprint of mediators. Attendees were encouraged to attend WoMACC’s seminar on the 5th November.
24 September 2021
John Sturrock addressed the Mediate.com Task Force Final Report Forum. The Report’s 8th recommendation is:
“Elevate the Recognition of Online Mediation as the “Green Way” to Resolve Disputes
Elevate the recognition of online mediation as the environmentally sound, accessible, cost effective, and safe way to resolve disputes.
Notable here are the efforts of [those] who have organized an effort to support a “Green Pledge for Mediators.” See https://womacc.org. Thus far, nearly 300 mediators from around the world have signed up to support the Green Pledge for Mediators. Over 40 countries are already represented! …...”
18 February 2021
The Mediators Green Pledge was discussed at a webinar on “Sustainable ADR” on 18 February 2021 hosted by The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London Branch) and the London Court of International Arbitration. Anna Howard, a member of the WoMACC Facilitators’ Group, spoke to an international audience about the Pledge’s origins, its provisions and impact.
Read Kim Franklin QC’s summary of the event here.
The recording of the event is available here.