Contractualising Climate Change: Challenges, Solutions and Opportunities

Anne-Marie Friel

January 2025

A paper presented to the Society of Construction Law at a meeting in London on 16th April 2024

The paper examines the challenges climate change poses to construction contracts and projects. The author introduces a ‘Systems Thinking’ approach as a solution to these challenges and analyses its effectiveness. How can ‘Systems Thinking’ be adopted in the construction sector and how can it be practically implemented within construction projects and reflected in construction contracts? The paper assesses the benefit of a ‘Systems Thinking’ approach against specific climate challenges and proposes where the approach will sit in future construction trends.

Aims and Conclusions – Introduction – Identification of the Challenges – Components of construction affecting climate performance – Thematic challenges – Applying Systems Thinking in Contractualising Climate Change – A Systems Thinking solution – Regulation emerging in a systemic way across Construction Projects – Applying a 'Systems Thinking' approach to construction contracting – Climate Change Contractualisation: Existing Challenges and Examples of Construction Contract Clauses – Current contract challenges – Review of existing climate change contractualisation options – Conclusion

The author: Anne-Marie Friel is a partner at Pinsent Masons.

Text: 25 pages