The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, in collaboration with the North America Committee of the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations (CGA-NA), organized a program during New York Arbitration Week focused on sustainable practices in international arbitration. The event, titled “Greener Arbitration: Insights from the Next Generation of Legal Scholarship,” was held on November 17 at Pace University’s downtown campus and online.
This gathering featured practitioners, academics, and new voices discussing how international arbitration can reduce its environmental impact. It also marked the conclusion of the first CGA-NA and Pace Haub Law Greener Arbitration Writing Competition, which received 43 submissions globally. Kenny Santiadi, an independent legal researcher from Indonesia, won first place for his article “The Arbitrator’s Environmental Fiduciary Duty: A Normative Reconstruction of Legal Ethics in International Arbitration.” His work will be published in the Pace Environmental Law Review.
“The purpose of the competition is to encourage and recognize excellent legal scholarship related to the mission of the CGA: to reduce the environmental impact of international arbitration and promote more sustainable arbitration practices,” said Professor Jill Gross, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at Pace Haub Law. “Several common themes emerged in the competition which can be classified into two key areas: procedural innovations aimed at transforming the arbitration process to better align with global sustainability goals while maintaining fairness and efficiency, and substantive developments relating to environmental disputes. Each submission brought a significant amount of depth and breadth to the table, with unique perspectives on environmental consciousness in arbitration. While the high quality of the submissions greatly impressed the judging panel, Mr. Santiadi’s article emerged as the clear winner. His work is innovative and forward thinking, and as the winner of this inaugural competition, it will be published in the Pace Environmental Law Review.”
The jury included Professor Jill Gross; Professor Josh Galperin; Dr. Tamar Meshel from University of Alberta Faculty of Law; Lucy Greenwood, founder of Campaign for Greener Arbitrations; William Crosby from Interpublic; and Olivier André from Freshfields.
The event opened New York Arbitration Week 2025 with updates on CGA initiatives by Christine Falcicchio and Olivier André. A panel moderated by Adam Weir included Professor Jill Gross, Cherine Foty from Covington & Burling, Adam Weir himself, and William Crosby. The panel discussed trends found among writing competition entries and addressed future directions for greener arbitration.
The Campaign for Greener Arbitrations aims to highlight dispute resolution’s carbon footprint and encourages stakeholders to adopt environmentally sustainable practices by following its Guiding Principles.
Pace Haub Law has a longstanding commitment to environmental law education—its ADR Program integrates environmental law topics through specialized curriculum such as Environmental Dispute Resolution—and operates centers like its Land Use Law Center that support consensus-building in land use conflicts. The school is consistently recognized for excellence in environmental law programs.
