News & insights
Latest legal insights, climate clauses, research, and updates on law for sustainability
How contracts can deliver nature-positive outcomes: reflections from our event
Contracts can be powerful tools for embedding nature-positive action. Our recent event with UKGBC and Hoare Lea explored how to turn ambition into binding outcomes.
Failing forward: experiments and lessons from building legal AI prototypes
Our experiments aren’t about shipping features. They’re about showing what’s possible, making mistakes and celebrating the odd agility that only a non-profit can pull off. Not every idea is good, and that’s the whole point.
Climate risk is professional risk – new tools for commercial lawyers
👉Download the Climate Risk Toolkits below, share them with your colleagues and clients, and start putting them into practice.
We’d love to hear how you’re using them. For now, we...
Legal design in action: why openness matters for climate and the profession
What does it mean for law to open up? For centuries legal practice was the preserve of specialists; a closed system dominated by qualified professionals, speaking in technical language and advising within narrow boundaries.
Pilot guidance for California Climate Disclosure Laws
To support organisations navigating California’s new Climate Disclosure Laws (SB 253 and SB 261), The Chancery Lane Project has developed a pilot guide. Still in beta, this living document translates regulatory obligations into practical, contract-ready tools that help companies measure climate impacts, align reporting, and go beyond compliance to lead on climate disclosure.
Adapting to AI: what 6 months of website analytics tells us about the future
As we monitored website traffic this year, it looked like our audience was shrinking. But a deeper dive into six months of analytics revealed a surprising truth - AI is amplifying our legal content beyond our website. So whilst visitors are declining, influence could be increasing.
Recap: Our climate risk hackathon at London Climate Action Week 2025
During London Climate Action Week, The Chancery Lane Project hosted its first in-person hackathon in over five years. Lawyers from across sectors came together to tackle how climate risk impacts commercial legal work. From asset devaluation to contract clauses, participants explored how legal teams can lead on climate risk management.
Aligning private investment with environmental impact
Private markets are rapidly becoming essential to financing the global transition to a low-carbon economy. However, to ensure green investments lead to real environmental outcomes, contracts must play a more active role. This blog explores how Matteo’s Clause helps impact investors and companies embed enforceable climate and nature goals into private financing agreements.
Voices in law and climate: Diane Harris on career, climate contracts and green infrastructure
In this interview, Diane Harris, Partner at MDY Legal, shares her career journey, insights on climate-conscious contracting, and the role of green infrastructure in creating a sustainable future. Discover how businesses can tackle climate change with practical strategies.
The $105 trillion economy runs on contracts – it’s time to embed climate obligations
Contracts are a powerful tool for climate action. Our 2024 Impact Report shows how legal teams and businesses are embedding climate commitments into contracts, driving change across sectors and jurisdictions. From public procurement to corporate supply chains, climate-aligned clauses are turning ambition into action.
Using AI to track open source climate clause adoption
We often think of innovation as a space to create something new without constraints, that points us towards to a future of what’s possible and where we can go next. But innovation can also be used in a different direction; to help us make sense of the past so we can better understand what we’ve already done.
Can we actually measure emissions in contracts? Well… that’s complex
As businesses race to meet sustainability goals, emissions measurement is becoming a contractual necessity. Our research reveals key challenges—fragmented standards, weak enforcement, and misaligned expectations—while highlighting best practices for stronger, impact-driven contracts.
