2025 GAIL Summit: how collaboration is advancing climate contracting across Latin America

At the 2025 Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers (GAIL) Summit in Mexico City, hundreds of practitioners gathered to explore how law can accelerate a just and sustainable transition. Held across three days and under the theme “From Ideas to Action,” panels showcased how legal innovation is driving positive change in areas such as finance, governance, biodiversity and corporate responsibility.

The Chancery Lane Project was present at the event where we launched 17 new Spanish-language climate clauses. Moreover, alongside colleagues from AgDevCo, TrustLaw and the Innovative Finance Initiative, we explored practical ways to turn climate ambition into legal reality by using contracts as tools for accountability and impact across Latin America.

Our message was simple: lawyers catalyse impact, one clause at a time. Whether advising on mergers, financing, or governance, every contractual decision can strengthen climate resilience and accelerate decarbonisation.

A milestone for Mexico and the region

The Summit marked a special milestone, the launch of 17 climate-aligned clauses transposed into Mexican law, created in collaboration with Nader, Hayaux & Goebel (NHG), and Hogan Lovells Mexico City office. These clauses adapt TCLP’s open-source models to the Mexican legal system, making them relevant and accessible to lawyers, companies and institutions across Latin America.

The transpositions cover areas such as finance, construction, corporate governance, and M&A, reflecting the growing recognition that climate risk is not peripheral but central to commercial practice. Each clause provides a practical template for lawyers seeking to embed climate considerations into their contracts and client advice.

Beyond their technical significance, these transpositions symbolise something larger: a community of legal professionals working together across languages, jurisdictions and legal cultures.

From clauses to playbooks

Our presentation also highlighted how TCLP’s resources are evolving, from individual clauses to practical “how-to” playbooks and training programmes. The Climate Contracting in Action CPD-accredited course, already tested in the UK, US and Mexico, helps lawyers move from theory to implementation by building confidence in applying climate clauses within real contracts.

Complementing this, our new Climate Risk Toolkits help practitioners identify and address climate-related risks across key sectors such as M&A, finance, energy and construction.

Both initiatives respond to a common challenge expressed by lawyers globally: “I want to act, but I don’t know how.” By connecting practical tools with professional competence, TCLP aims to make climate-conscious lawyering a normal part of everyday practice, not an optional specialism.

Building a community of practice

What stood out in Mexico was not just the content of the sessions but the tone of collaboration. Law firms, academics, NGOs and students all contributed ideas for how to adapt and scale TCLP’s approach in their own contexts.

That sense of shared ownership is what has always defined TCLP’s community: lawyers leading local projects, peer-reviewing resources, and co-creating new tools that reflect their legal systems and priorities.

In Latin America, this community is already expanding.

From Mexico to the world

As we return from Mexico City, the energy of the GAIL Summit stays with us, a reminder that collaboration across borders is not an aspiration but a daily practice.

Contracts underpin global economic activity. If lawyers shape contracts, they shape the flow of capital, resources and risk. By embedding climate considerations at that level, we can influence how trillions of dollars move through the economy and towards a more sustainable future.

We are grateful to our partners Nader, Hayaux & Goebel and Hogan Lovells, and to all those across the GAIL community who are shaping this movement with us.