There is a need to opt for arbitration as climate change related disputes are set to increase, Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General has said.

He was speaking on June 16, during the East Africa International Arbitration Conference held in Kigali under the theme, "Resettling for a new age of international arbitration in Africa: Climate Change, global partnerships and sustainable development.”

Arbitration is an internationally recognised procedure whereby a dispute is submitted, by agreement of the parties, to a neutral party to make a binding decision on the dispute as opposed to going to court.

"The world is facing an emergency due to the impact of climate change, not only on biodiversity and ecosystems including species loss and extinction but also on livelihoods, health, and water supply among others,” he said, explaining that efforts to address the crisis have triggered disputes.

He said that cases have been filed by a variety of claimants such as individuals, non-government organisations as well as the government, to ensure there is a policy change to address climate change.

"Climate cases have several objectives, from aligning to the Paris agreement to debating compensation for damages caused by climate change, up to creating awareness on climate change related human rights violations,” he said.

He said that over 1,843 climate change related cases have been recorded up to June 2021 globally.

"They keep increasing. Due to the environment that we find ourselves in and questions regarding the impact of climate change, global partnership and sustainable development to international arbitration should come to the forefront,” he said.

In November 2019, he quoted, the International Chamber of Commerce released its report on Resolving Climate Change Related Disputes through Arbitration.

He said that while climate change-related disputes and the legal considerations arising therefrom have generally been considered in the context of litigation, they had not received the same attention in an arbitration context.

The ICC Report identifies six areas where the existing arbitration procedures may be enhanced to accommodate climate change-related disputes and provides further guidance for parties when drafting arbitration agreements in respect of climate change-related disputes.

The categories of climate change related disputes, he explained, include disputes arising out of specific transition, adaptation or mitigation contracts, disputes arising out of contracts which do not specifically relate to transition, adaptation or mitigation as well as disputes where the parties have agreed to submit to arbitration after the dispute has arisen .

In 2018, he noted, disputes arising out of sectors which are expected to be impacted by climate change accounted for around 70 percent of all new ICC arbitration cases, with approximately 40 percent arising out of the construction, engineering and energy sector, agribusiness, manufacturing, transport among others.

"With increased efforts by states and private entities to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement, the ICC Report predicts that climate change related disputes are bound to exponentially increase,” he said.

200 cases received for arbitration

In 2010, the Parliament of Rwanda passed a law establishing an independent body -Kigali International Arbitration Centre tasked with promoting Rwanda as a venue of efficient arbitration services and a centre of excellence for research and training of professionals in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

Although he didn’t identify the number of climate change related disputes, Victory Mugabe, the Secretary General of Kigali International Arbitration Centre said that since its establishment, the centre has handled over 200 disputes.

He said that, "We receive between 25 and 30 cases every year. Many businesses have not understood the benefits of arbitration and more awareness is needed,” he said.

Faustin Ntezilyayo, Chief Justice of Rwanda said: "Both developed and developing economies are increasingly reliant on and supportive of cross-border arbitration in resolving disputes.”

In 2008, a new Arbitration law based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration was passed.

Rwanda also became the 143rd country to accede to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (The New York Convention) which entered into force for Rwanda on 29th January 2009.

The aim was to ensure that commercial parties in Rwanda would be able to access an alternative way to resolve their disputes, thus increasing the attractiveness of Kigali (Rwanda) as a centre of dispute resolution.