--- title: Annual Impact Report 2025 date: 2026-06-02T15:15:28Z modified: 2026-06-09T12:42:27Z permalink: "https://chancerylaneproject.org/impact-report-2025/" type: page status: publish excerpt: "" wpid: 11428 --- The Chancery Lane Project · Annual Impact Report 2025 # From ambition to action_._ Climate clauses have moved from marginal to mainstream. In 2025 we crossed an important threshold — from demonstrating that climate-aligned contracting _could_ work, to showing that it _is_ working, at scale, across sectors, in the real economy. ### 73,700 users from 165 countries accessed our resources ### 209,300 clause views across 145 countries ### 450+ members in the Climate Clauses Working Group ### 88% intend to embed climate content in next 12 months 00 Foreword from the chair ## The transition is being negotiated Prior to 2019, climate clauses were experimental, drafted at the edges of agreements, carried by conviction more than convention. Today, they sit at the centre of commerce. In 2025, we crossed a new threshold. The question is no longer whether climate-aligned contracting can work. We can now see clearly that it does. Climate provisions are being embedded in procurement frameworks, finance agreements, supply chains and governance structures. These developments reflect a wider shift: climate-aligned contracting is beginning to embed itself within the systems that shape economic activity. They are shaping behaviour, aligning incentives and converting ambition into obligation. This is a system change, and it did not happen by accident. By publishing trusted, open-source, practitioner-led content, TCLP has helped normalise the integration of climate risk into legal drafting. We have shown that clauses can be rigorous without being unrealistic, ambitious without being unworkable. We have built confidence, and with confidence comes adoption. That is a lasting legacy. The legal profession is also changing. Drafting is increasingly assisted by artificial intelligence. Knowledge travels faster than ever. In this environment, trust and clarity matter more, not less. TCLP remains relevant precisely because it combines independence with integrity, openness with expertise, and collaboration with practical experience. This age of transition demands the discipline of law. In an AI-enabled world, that discipline must be intentional, principled and designed into the systems that shape how contracts are written, not assumed, not outsourced, not accidental. I am deeply grateful to the TCLP team and to every contributor, past and present, who has given time, judgement and imagination to this shared endeavour. The impact of climate contracting, and its legacy, belongs to all of you. Climate clauses have moved from marginal to mainstream. Now we must ensure the mainstream delivers transformation. The work continues. So does the invitation: use it, improve it, and build what comes next. **Matt Gingell, Chair of the Board** 01 ## ****From ambition to action: making climate contracting the norm**** In 2025, The Chancery Lane Project (TCLP) crossed an important threshold. We moved from showing that climate-aligned contracting _could_ work to demonstrating that it _is_ working, at scale, across sectors, and in the real economy. Climate clauses are no longer theoretical drafting tools. They are being embedded in contracts, procurement frameworks and finance agreements that shape how the global economy operates. The evidence from 2025 shows progression across four dimensions: reach, behaviour change, systems influence and real-world application. **2025 impact highlights** Reach ### 1,440 professionals engaged through events across 54+ countries. Reach ### 450 members of Climate Clauses Working Group from nearly 300 organisations in 124 sectors Behaviour change ### 78% reported climate-aligned changes to at least one form of organisational documentation Reach ### 314 enrolled in Climate Contracting in Action training 98% pass rate Reach ### 209,300 views of TCLP climate clauses across 145 countries Reach ### 73,700 accessed TCLP’s digital resources from 165 countries Behaviour change ### 88% intend to include climate-aligned content in the next 12 months Reach ### 1,000 clause downloads and 375 guide downloads Reach ### 36,000 ChatGPT-related visits between May and December 2025 Reach ### 10 clauses linked to WorldCC Sustainability Contracting Library Behaviour change ### 73% more likely to include climate content in future contracts **Systems influence** - TCLP clauses referenced in [The Law Society of England and Wales’](https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/en)s Practice Note on Climate Change and Property - TCLP became a member of the BSI ([British Standards Institution’s](https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/)) review panel SES/1/7/3 to help provide high-level input into the development of ISO 14060 Net Zero Aligned Organizations. The remit of the review panel is to help form the UK position at the various formal stages of consultation, by reviewing the draft and providing recommendations to the responsible BSI subcommittee SES/1/7 Greenhouse gas management and related activities **Real world application** - A multinational consumer goods company collected 700+ product carbon footprints from its top 300 suppliers using TCLP-inspired clauses - A major automotive manufacturer achieved significant per-vehicle carbon savings by embedding decarbonisation provisions and active management of scope 3 emissions in supplier contracts, at no additional net cost - Building on work since 2020, the UK government adapted TCLP clauses in developing a public procurement approach that links carbon reduction obligations to the delivery of individual contracts, creating a scalable model with potential application across government procurement worth hundreds of billions of pounds In 2025, we demonstrated that climate contracting works. Our focus in 2026 now turns to making this standard professional practice. 02 ## **Why contracts matter** > Climate contracting can be highly impactful in accelerating real-world decarbonisation. > > ****Professor Matthew Brander, Personal Chair of Carbon Accounting**** > University of Edinburgh Business School Contracts shape behaviour. They allocate risk, define accountability, set performance standards and create consequences. Without climate provisions embedded in contracts, sustainability strategies often remain aspirational. When climate expectations are embedded within commercial agreements, ambition becomes operational. Contracts also provide certainty for organisations operating across global value chains, particularly in fragmented regulatory and legal environments. By clearly allocating climate-related risks, responsibilities and opportunities between parties, contractual mechanisms can create consistent expectations even where policy frameworks differ across jurisdictions. TCLP exists to close this gap: translating climate ambition into legally enforceable mechanisms that drive action in the real economy. 03 ## How we create change > The Chancery Lane Project has been significantly helpful both as an online resource and as a team to support our climate-aligned work. > > **Respondent** Impact Survey 2025 TCLP operates as a systems-level catalyst. We do not simply draft and publish clauses. We work deliberately to build the conditions that enable organisations to adopt, adapt, and advocate for climate-aligned contracting. In practice, this means equipping legal and sustainability professionals with credible tools they can use immediately. It also involves supporting organisations as they implement climate clauses in real commercial relationships, and working with professional bodies and networks to embed climate considerations into mainstream contracting practice. Because systems change happens through many actors and over long timeframes, it is not always straightforward to measure how activities such as publishing clauses, convening practitioners and influencing norms translate into real-world environmental outcomes. To strengthen how we understand and evidence this pathway, during 2025 we worked to clarify the link between our activities and the change they enable. In 2025, we worked with [New Philanthropy Capital](https://www.thinknpc.org/) (NPC) to sharpen our explanation of impact. This clarified how our work contributes to environmental outcomes and impact across four levels: 01 · Activities #### Build the toolkit Developing high quality legal content, delivering training, convening communities and influencing norms. 02 · Behaviour change #### Adoption in practice Clauses adopted, adapted and embedded in live contracts and documentation. 03 · Systems change #### A new normal Climate considerations becoming standard practice. 04 · Impact #### Real-world outcomes Reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved biodiversity. Our strategy is grounded in behavioural insight: organisations adopt climate clauses when they have the capability, opportunity and motivation to do so. We drive this by: - **Capability** – providing accessible, high-quality legal drafting and training - **Opportunity** – facilitating partnerships with professional bodies, regulators, standards developers and assurers, and networks - **Motivation** – evidencing that climate contracting is commercially viable and operationally workable This framework is helping us focus effort where it matters most, measure progress more rigorously, and communicate impact more clearly to funders and partners. This work remains a strategic priority in 2026. ## Our explanation of impact in 2025 Figure 1 · Theory of change ActivitiesWith **direct** impact on organisations Provide legal content 1-to-1 engagement & support 1-to-many engagement & support With **indirect** impact on organisations Influencing legislation / regulation Influencing norms / mental models Influencing networks / relationships leads to↓ ↺ Systems change feedback loop Each new adopter reshapes the market for the next Outcome 01More organisations have the **capability**, **opportunity** and **motivation** to adopt (or facilitate) climate contracting. IfTCLP reaches the **right individuals**, in the **right organisations**, in the **right sectors**. → Outcome 02More organisations put **higher-quality climate clauses** into more of their (higher-value) contracts. Iftheir capabilities, opportunities and motivations **overcome their barriers** (e.g. increased cost). IfTCLP’s legal content is **high quality**, and **adapted & implemented** appropriately. Ifthese organisations become **advocates** for climate contracting. Ifa critical mass adopting or supporting climate contracting creates **new market norms**. Outcome 02 leads to↓ ImpactReduced **GHGs** and improved **biodiversity**. Ifclimate clauses actually **change organisations’** environmental practice. → Wider mission### Supporting TCLP’s wider mission to: - Realise a **green, fair and inclusive** economy… - by **empowering key actors** in the global economy… - through the **power of law**. § Read each arrow as “leads to”, and each **If** as the assumption that has to hold for it to. The feedback loop reinforces the chain — new adopters create the norms that bring the next ones in. 04 ## Who we reached In 2025, our engagement continued to deepen and diversify, with growing evidence that engagement is translating into practical application. **Digital engagement** Our website remains a critical gateway to climate-aligned contracting: - Over 73,700 people from 165 countries total website users - 209,300 clause views from 145 countries - 1,030 clause downloads in 2025 with: - 133 of whom said that they would use it in a contract with the necessary edits - 139 said they would save it in their knowledge base - 375 guide downloads The quality of engagement on our digital platforms also grew – page views grew by a third year-on-year, and bounce rate fell sharply as visitors stayed to read. ## 497k ↑ 33% ### Page views in 2025 Up from 373,000 in 2024 – and bounce rate dropped from **66% to 29%**. People are arriving with intent and staying. Chart ### Engagement deepened year-on-year Chart 2023 240k 2024 373k 2025 497k In parallel, we began tracking ‘AI agents’ visiting our website in May 2025. By December 2025, Chat-GPT associated bots alone accessed our website more than 36,000 times, indicating that TCLP’s legal content is increasingly being surfaced and integrated within AI-enabled research and drafting tools. ### **Most accessed legal content** Demand centred on practical, delivery-focused resources linked to supply chains, real estate and transition planning. #### Marni’s Clause: Report on Title – Commercial Real Estate We reviewed and updated [this clause](https://chancerylaneproject.org/clauses/report-on-title-commercial-real-estate/) in light of The Law Society’s [Practice Note on Climate Change and Property](https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/climate-change/climate-change-property) (June 2025). The updated clause has a wider climate risk context, a new section on reporting on energy performance certificates and is drafted for commercial real estate conveyancing. New [Isabella’s clause](https://chancerylaneproject.org/clauses/report-on-title-residential-real-estate/) adapts Marni for residential real estate. 11,300 views from 40 countries ↑ 7,300 YoY #### Raphael’s Clause: Climate Change Due Diligence Questionnaire for Suppliers [This DDQ](https://chancerylaneproject.org/clauses/climate-change-due-diligence-questionnaire-for-suppliers/) provides climate-related questions that enable procurement teams to appraise supplier approaches to climate-related risks and impacts and how well they align with the customer’s own climate strategy and targets. This is a large menu of suggested DDQ questions which cover the recommended disclosures of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, the IFRS S2 disclosure framework and other important areas not covered by those regimes. 3,600 views from 49 countries ↑ 1,500 YoY #### Guide: Deliver a climate transition plan [This guide](https://chancerylaneproject.org/guides/deliver-a-climate-transition-plan/) enables organisations to: prepare and implement a transition plan; ensure delivery of the plan by integrating targets and actions into contracts; establish a board committee with specific responsibility to develop, implement and review the transition plan; and put in place an annual reporting mechanism to update the plan every twelve months to assess progress made towards its targets. 3,200 views from 44 countries ↑ 1,300 YoY ### **Media coverage** TCLP was featured in 45 media publications, extending our reach into new audiences, including: - **BusinessGreen**: [Guidance for deforestation-free supply chains](https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4519814/chancery-lane-project-publishes-guidance-deforestation-free-supply-chains) - **Insurance ERM**: [Embedding climate risk into legal practice](https://www.insuranceerm.com/news-comment/london-climate-action-week-the-pick-of-events-for-insurers.html) - **Legal futures**: [Turning climate ambition into enforceable action](https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/blog/how-lawyers-can-turn-climate-ambitions-into-enforceable-action) - **UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association**: [Climate in the fine print – contracts as catalysts for net zero finance](https://uksif.org/climate-in-the-fine-print-contracts-as-catalysts-for-net-zero-financeruby-carver-sector-relationship-manager-the-chancery-lane-project/). We also published: - 14 thought leadership placements - 26 blog posts Our LinkedIn impressions increased by 51%, and reactions increased by 144% compared to 2024. Our newsletter subscriptions increased by 10%. ### **Events and training** Beyond our digital reach, in 2025 we continued to engage directly with professionals around the world, increasingly working through networks and communities to move from one-to-one engagement towards one-to-many influence across the legal ecosystem: Events ### 1,440 participated in TCLP events and conference sessions. From 54+ countries Training ### 314 enrolled in the _Climate Contracting in Action_ training programme 98% pass rate Community ### 450+ members in the Climate Clauses Working Group From nearly 300 organisations In less than a year, our Climate Clauses Working Group grew to over 450 members from nearly 300 organisations — **305 of them multinationals**, and **28 from the FTSE 100** — including senior professionals from major global organisations like [Sage](https://www.sage.com/en-gb/) and [AstraZeneca](https://www.astrazeneca.com/). #### **Feedback on the _Climate Contracting in Action_ training programme** Pre- and post-programme survey data shows measurable increases in awareness, confidence and practical capability: Very aware of climate-related legal risk ### 19% to 54% Very confident in knowledge increased from ### 5% to 34% Very familiar with using contracts to address climate risk increased from ### 5% to 37% Strong agreement that they had the necessary tools increased from ### 3% to 37% Strong belief that contracts are effective in reducing emissions increased from ### 5% to 37% These findings demonstrate strengthened practitioner capability and growing confidence in climate-aligned contracting as a practical commercial tool. 05 ## **What changed: from awareness to action** > Climate clauses are now being rolled out to all our major suppliers making up 80% of Telstra’s supply chain spend. > > **Simon Antony** Program Manager for Sustainability and Responsible Procurement, Telstra In 2025, we surveyed **60 professionals** across **34 sectors** and **13 countries**, including 29 from multinational organisations, to assess whether engagement with TCLP was translating into organisational change. These findings indicate clear progression from awareness to implementation amongst our survey respondents. ### **Documented climate-aligned changes** Respondents were asked whether their organisation had embedded climate-aligned content within formal documentation and what type of impact this had generated – increased awareness, willingness or action. Responses indicate that climate-aligned content is now being embedded across multiple layers of organisational documentation: Signed contracts ### 78% reported impacts associated with signed contracts or corporate governance documentation. Pre-contract ### 92% reported impacts linked to pre-contract documentation, such as due diligence questionnaires or supplier selection criteria. Other materials ### 93% reported impacts linked to other organisational materials, including templates, procurement policies or training materials. Overall ### 85% reported increased awareness, willingness or action across at least one area Importantly, these impacts were not limited to awareness. **Over one third** of respondents reported increased action specifically in relation to signed contracts or formal documentation. These findings suggest that climate-aligned contracting is not just theoretical; it is influencing organisational understanding, readiness and — in many cases — action. ### **Including targets** Amongst our survey respondents, adoption in 2025 involved defined, measurable commitments: - **73%** reported embedding emissions-reduction targets - **Over half** embedded emissions avoidance or social or workforce-related climate targets - **Nearly one third** embedded biodiversity or nature-related targets - **Over a quarter** reported climate-related targets that required a contracting party to meet them While these findings are based on self-reported data rather than direct measurement of emissions outcomes, they indicate that climate clauses are shaping expectations and accountability within commercial relationships. ### **Future intent** Of those surveyed, responses suggested adoption is building, with **88%** of survey respondents saying they are likely, quite likely or may be likely to include climate-aligned content in the next 12 months. When asked about TCLP’s role in influencing change: - **80%** said that TCLP influenced or may have influenced climate-aligned change in their organisation - **73%** said TCLP made their organisation more likely to include climate content in future contracts - **64%** of respondents said TCLP, may have, probably, or definitely influenced the targets embedded in their documentation Attribution in complex organisational systems is rarely linear. However, the evidence from our survey respondents indicates that TCLP is contributing to a shift from aspirational climate commitments to defined expectations embedded within commercial relationships. ### **Systems influence and partnerships** In 2025, we saw how organisations are not only using TCLP content internally, but also advocating for it externally. This reflects an important dimension of TCLP’s impact: helping to shift the dial in professional practice by encouraging ahead of market ambition and promoting climate leadership that goes beyond minimum compliance. **Organisations as advocates** In 2025, we saw how organisations are not only using TCLP content internally, they are advocating for it externally. Our impact survey revealed: - **60%** engaged in some form of external advocacy - **One third** shared TCLP content with clients or customers - **One fifth** influenced suppliers or supply chains - **Over a third** engaged peers or industry groups - **One in ten** used TCLP content in public policy or regulatory discussions This suggests that amongst our survey respondents climate contracting is spreading through professional networks and market ecosystems, not solely through direct engagement with TCLP. One law firm explained their approach: > Following the release of The Chancery Lane Project’s template reporting clause on climate change, we made the decision to include this wording, rather than [The Law Society of England and Wales’s](https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/en) suggested wording, in our internal guidance and template reports because TCLP’s wording goes further… We hope that by using this wording moving forward, more clients will be climate change aware and embrace sustainable practices. > > **[Freeths LLP](https://www.freeths.co.uk/)** December 2025 ### **Working through strategic partnerships** In 2025, we worked with influential bodies, extending our reach and impact: - **WorldCC**: 10 TCLP clauses were linked to its sustainable contracting library, extending our reach into a global network of commercial and procurement professionals - **WorldCC Foundation**: TCLP has a [Memorandum of Understanding](https://news.worldcc.com/worldcc-foundation/worldcc-foundation-and-the-chancery-lane-project-strategically-partner?utm_campaign=Foundation%20brand%20awareness&utm_content=336246298&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&hss_channel=lcp-88969536) with World CC Foundation to further their shared mission of transforming global contracting practices to be more sustainable, inclusive, and climate-aligned - [**UK Green Building Council**](https://ukgbc.org/) **(UKGBC**): Ongoing collaboration on embodied carbon guidance and construction sector implementation - [**ClimateGroup**](https://www.theclimategroup.org/understanding-climate-change-focus-clean-energy-and-global-action?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20847266596&gbraid=0AAAAADxBv6vX3KAl8boLlUmLJmR5Svt3Z&gclid=CjwKCAiAzZ_NBhAEEiwAMtqKy0g9hVmnsT1gQQknVy7O19o9-wF79mDUbv4vmlkD85SgbQ8vKil7MBoCV48QAvD_BwE): Collaborating to explore how to translate their ConcreteZero and SteelZero commitment into procurement protocols and commercial agreements - [**Scope 3 Peer Group**](https://www.scope3peergroup.com/): Supporting organisations to translate scope 3 emissions targets into practical contractual mechanisms - [**Waste and Resources Action Programme**](http://google.com/search?q=waste+and+resources+action+programme&oq=Waste+and+Resources+Action+Programme&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCggAEAAY4wIYgAQyCggAEAAY4wIYgAQyDQgBEC4YxwEY0QMYgAQyBwgCEAAYgAQyCAgDEAAYFhgeMggIBBAAGBYYHjIKCAUQABgKGBYYHjIICAYQABgWGB4yCAgHEAAYFhgeMggICBAAGBYYHjIICAkQABgWGB7SAQgzNzI3ajBqNKgCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) **(WRAP)**: Collaborating on circular economy and materials-related climate contracting - [**World Benchmarking Alliance**](https://www.worldbenchmarkingalliance.org/) and the [**UK Government Digital Sustainability Alliance**](https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/government-digital-sustainability-alliance-gdsa): Recently joined as allies, and will be partnering with them on projects in future ### **Influencing standards and professional guidance** TCLP’s work increasingly intersected directly with standards-setting and regulatory frameworks: - Became a member of the BSI ([British Standards Institution’s](https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/)) review panel SES/1/7/3 to help provide high-level input into the development of ISO 14060 Net Zero Aligned Organizations. The remit of the review panel is to help form the UK position at the various formal stages of consultation, by reviewing the draft and providing recommendations to the responsible BSI subcommittee SES/1/7 Greenhouse gas management and related activities - Referenced in [**The** **Law Society of England and Wales’s**](https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/en) Practice Note on Climate Change and Property - Our **[International Sustainability Standards Board](https://www.ifrs.org/groups/international-sustainability-standards-board/)** (**ISSB**) work explored how International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS S1 and S2) can be translated into AI-assisted practical tools, supporting organisations to embed ambition rather than simply comply Public procurement ### Case study: UK government public procurement UK Cabinet Office · PPN 01/24 Since 2020, The Chancery Lane Project has worked with the UK government to embed climate-aligned contracting into public procurement, one of the main ways the Government is working towards its legal commitment to reach net zero by 2050. In March 2024, the Cabinet Office published Procurement Policy Note 01/24 (PPN 01/24), introducing a new contract-level approach to reducing supplier greenhouse gas emissions that builds on TCLP clauses. Two provisions in the Carbon Reduction Contract Schedule are directly adapted from TCLP content: an optional gain share adapted from Jess and Rory’s Clause, and a net zero modifications clause adapted from Luna’s Clause. PPN 01/24 builds on the earlier PPN 06/21 by moving beyond organisational-level carbon reduction plans and introducing emissions requirements within individual contracts. The UK Government has indicated that the Carbon Reduction Contract Schedule is likely to be included in future versions of its Model Contracts. If adopted more widely, these provisions could become standard across a much broader range of public contracts, shaping procurement worth hundreds of billions of pounds.. £100bn+ potential procurement reach ### **Shaping responses to emerging regulation** In 2025, TCLP supported organisations navigating evolving regulatory landscapes. - Our **[EU Deforestation Regulation guide](https://chancerylaneproject.org/guides/ensure-deforestation-free-supply-chains/)** enables companies to address supply chain due diligence requirements proactively - Our [**California-focused disclosure work**](https://chancerylaneproject.org/guides/contracting-for-california-climate-disclosure/) demonstrates how climate-related reporting standards can be translated into practical contractual tools ### **Climate risk in legal practice** Following our [London Climate Action Week](https://www.londonclimateactionweek.org/) event, we developed [Climate Risk Toolkits](https://chancerylaneproject.org/news/climate-risk-is-professional-risk-new-tools-for-commercial-lawyers/) to help lawyers: - Identify how climate risk arises in practice - Understand its commercial and legal implications - Integrate physical and transition risks into transactions from the outset These resources support the integration of climate risk into mainstream legal workflows, helping translate climate risk into the practical language of transactions, contracts and commercial decision-making. 06 ## **Evidence of real-world impact** Measuring emissions reductions across complex global supply chains is challenging. However, evidence from 2025 suggests that climate-aligned contracting is contributing to tangible environmental outcomes. Due to commercial confidentiality, not all organisations can be named publicly, and any identifying details (like decarbonisation statistics) have had to be removed. The examples below illustrate how contractual mechanisms are aligning financial, procurement and operational decisions with climate performance across high-emitting sectors. Automotive ### Carbon reduction without additional cost Used climate-aligned contracting mechanisms to identify cost efficiencies within its supply chain. Working closely with its finance team, the company reinvested those savings into lower-carbon materials. The company attributes a significant proportion of these savings to the contractual structures that aligned financial incentives with carbon performance. The result: significant carbon savings per vehicle manufactured, achieved without additional net cost. This demonstrates a critical point: climate-aligned contracting can drive cost savings. When structured intelligently, it can surface efficiency opportunities that deliver both planet-positive and financial benefits. Major automotive manufacturer Legal services ### Climate clauses across client engagements In 2025, we published a [case study with Clyde & Co](https://chancerylaneproject.org/case-studies/clydeco/) demonstrating how climate clauses were incorporated into supply chain and procurement contracts, supporting measurable impact across client engagements. [Clyde & Co](https://www.clydeco.com/en) Consumer goods ### Supply chain carbon accountability As of May 2025, a multinational consumer goods corporation implemented climate clauses inspired by TCLP content across its top suppliers. In the first phase of implementation: over 700 product carbon footprint specifications were collected from across its top 300 suppliers. This marks a substantial increase in supply chain carbon transparency. The next phase will move beyond disclosure toward accountability, embedding measurable emissions reduction expectations into supplier relationships. Multinational consumer goods corporation Energy finance ### Lower cost of capital for low-carbon ‘Laith and Irsa’s clause’, developed by Field Energy with TCLP, has been used in finance agreements to lower the cost of capital for companies that reduce emissions, helping connect climate performance with measurable financial outcomes. [Field Energy](https://www.field.energy/) Construction ### Reducing scope 3 from materials Reduced its scope 3 emissions that came from the manufacturing of materials (a source of emissions outside of their operational control) by: setting very early on in their specifications an overall embodied carbon target; requiring detailed reporting; and setting specific carbon budgets per work package and for key materials. This gave suppliers the ability to innovate as the contracts focused on outcomes, rather than methods. Major construction company 07 Digital transformation ## **Building AI-ready climate contracting** ### **AI discovery is rising** We began tracking ‘AI agents’ visiting our website in May 2025. Since then, we’ve seen visits double from approximately 1,000 to upwards of 2,000 every working day in December 2025. Chat-GPT bots alone visited over 36,000 times in that 8 month period. This shift reflects wider changes in how professionals access legal and sustainability content. It also reinforces the importance of ensuring that climate-aligned legal resources are discoverable, structured and usable within AI-enabled workflows. Chart ### AI Agents accessing TCLP content Estimated AI bot visits by type , May – December 2025 369,100 AI visits - AI Training Data 206,200 55.9% - AI Search Scraper 73,800 20.0% - AI Assistant 53,300 14.4% - Other AI Uses 35,800 9.7% Details- AI Assistants – Fetching website content in response to a user prompt, to include in an AI-generated answer - AI Training Data – Downloading website content to include in datasets used for training AI models such as LLMs - AI Search Crawler – Indexing website content to possibly include as citations in AI-powered search results - Other – Archiving, fetching metadata, security analysis or otherwise uncategorisable visit types **Preparing for AI-enabled legal practice** Legal practice is changing rapidly as AI tools become part of everyday research, drafting and decision-making. During 2025, TCLP began adapting its digital infrastructure to ensure that climate-aligned legal content remains visible, structured and usable in AI-enabled environments. Early testing shows that many leading AI models already recognise The Chancery Lane Project and understand our role in climate-aligned contracting. However, their knowledge of our detailed content library remains incomplete. This highlights an important opportunity: ensuring that high-quality climate-aligned legal resources are accurately represented within the AI systems that professionals increasingly rely on. To address this, we began investing in AI-ready infrastructure to ensure that TCLP content is discoverable, interpretable and reliable when accessed through AI tools. ### **Building the foundations for AI-ready climate contracting** With support from the [Patrick J. McGovern Foundation](https://www.mcgovern.org/), we began annotating our legal content to identify the key legal and climate concepts embedded within our clauses and guidance. This work forms the foundation of a developing knowledge graph – a structured representation of meaning within TCLP’s legal resources. This will help to: - improve discoverability through AI systems; - reduce the risk of misinterpretation and hallucination; and - enable more accurate AI-assisted drafting and clause discovery. > This work demonstrates how AI and high-quality legal data can enable new tools and services, creating the foundations for _credible benchmarking_ of climate-aligned contracting as access to data continues to grow. > > **Unboxed** Digital partner, TCLP Labs Alongside this work, we began developing APIs and embedding machine-readable semantic information into our website. These changes help ensure that AI tools can interpret TCLP content accurately as legal professionals increasingly access information through AI-assisted workflows. ### **Why this matters** Climate contracting must evolve alongside the digital transformation of the legal profession. By investing early in AI-ready infrastructure, TCLP is ensuring that climate-aligned legal mechanisms remain visible, interpretable and operational in a rapidly changing professional landscape. Rather than reacting to technological change, we are helping shape how climate ambition is translated into enforceable legal practice in an AI-enabled future. 08 ## **Learning and improvement** TCLP is committed to being evidence-based, opportunity-led and impact-focused. In 2025, we took deliberate steps to strengthen how we measure impact and how we assure the quality and integrity of our content. ### **Strengthening our Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL)** With NPC, we strengthened our approach to Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) framework to clarify: - What behavioural change looks like in practice - Where attribution is realistic and where contribution is appropriate - Which indicators best reflect environmental progress This framework is strengthening our ability to track change and system influence, improving transparency for funders and partners. ### **Strengthening our quality assurance process** In 2025, a priority was to deepen the scientific grounding and quality assurance of our legal content. Eight climate scientists from five academic institutions, including the Universities of [Oxford](https://www.ox.ac.uk/) and [Edinburgh](https://www.ed.ac.uk/), reviewed approximately 60 glossary terms central to TCLP’s clauses and guidance. This included key definitions such as offsetting and carbon footprint. The review focused on both scientific accuracy and level of ambition. The input demonstrated that our content was already strong from a climate science perspective, as there were no fundamental issues highlighted. Feedback from this process has informed updates to definitions and highlighted areas where legal drafting must remain responsive to developments in climate science and standards. This work marked an important step in strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration beyond the legal profession. It also reinforced an ongoing priority: ensuring that TCLP content remains aligned with the best available science in a rapidly evolving regulatory and standards landscape. As climate standards continue to develop, regular review and external challenge will remain essential to maintaining credibility and relevance. 09 ## ****Looking ahead**** Climate contracting is no longer theoretical. It is being used in global supply chains, procurement frameworks and financial agreements today. The past year has seen unprecedented changes in AI. Legal research and drafting is increasingly AI-assisted. Contracts are shaped by the systems and defaults that professionals rely on, not just by individual decisions. TCLP’s focus now is to ensure that climate-aligned options are present, credible and usable at the point those decisions are made. This means continuing to build our knowledge graph and AI-ready digital infrastructure, so that our content can be surfaced, interpreted and applied within the AI and drafting tools that are reshaping legal practice. It means partnering with professional bodies, standards developers and regulators to embed climate considerations into the frameworks and norms that shape how contracts are written. And it means scaling our reach so that what has been demonstrated at the frontier becomes accessible everywhere. Our mission is also broadening. Climate contracting has always been about more than carbon. In 2026, we are expanding our frame to reflect what the evidence and the urgency demands: a planet-positive approach to legal practice, one that encompasses adaptation, nature and biodiversity, resilience and a just transition alongside emissions reduction. Contracts are a powerful tool across the full breadth of the climate challenge, and our work will rise to meet it. > The work of 2025 showed us what is _possible_. The work of 2026 is to make it _standard practice_. 10 ## **Join us** We invite funders, partners, and professionals to engage with our work. For practitioners ### Use the work **Use our resources**: All our clauses and guides are freely available [here](https://chancerylaneproject.org/#). Adapt them to your context. Share them with colleagues and clients. **Join the community**: Become a member of the [Climate Clauses Working Group](https://chancerylaneproject.org/climate-clauses-working-group/), a peer network of over 450 professionals sharing implementation experience and best practices. **Participate in training**: Enroll in our [Climate Contracting in Action](https://chancerylaneproject.org/training-course-climate-contracting-in-action/) programme to build capability within your team. [Browse the library →](https://chancerylaneproject.org/) For partners & professional bodies ### Replicate the methodology We’re happy to support other organisations developing climate-aligned legal content or adapting our approach to different jurisdictions and sectors. [Explore the playbooks →](https://chancerylaneproject.org/playbooks/) For partners & professional bodies ### Collaborate on standards development & refer participants If you’re working on professional guidance, regulatory frameworks, or industry standards, we can contribute expertise and evidence, and we welcome it in return. Help us reach the practitioners who need these resources most. [Contact us →](contact@chancerylaneproject.org) For funders ### Back what’s working Support our mission. Climate contracting has proven its value. With continued backing, we can scale adoption, deepen impact, and make climate considerations standard practice across the global economy. [Support our mission →](https://chancerylaneproject.org) Funding priorities for 2026 ### Back what’s working **AI and digital infrastructure**— knowledge graph, API, TCLP Labs. **Impact measurement and evaluation**— tracking adoption, measuring outcomes. **Geographic expansion**— supporting adoption in emerging economies and non-English-speaking markets. [Support our mission →](https://chancerylaneproject.org) ## The work continues. Use it. Improve it. Build what comes next. The Chancery Lane Project · Annual Report 2025. Open-source, practitioner-led, climate-aligned contracting for the real economy. [Subscribe to the newsletter](https://forms.chancerylaneproject.org/s/get-involved) © The Chancery Lane Project · Registered charity 1188821 Designed in London · 2025