Sustainable Contracting: How Standard Terms Could Govern Markets

Abstract

Every (global) contract should include sustainability terms. The following chapter discusses the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ of this claim. It outlines a general structure for Global Sustainability Terms (GSTs), i.e. any standard terms concerned with the sustainability impact of contracting. Widely standardized sustainability terms could enable a normative narrative of ‘sustainable contracting’, enhancing fair transactions and sufficient use of resources. Internal contractual standards establish a sustainable private self-governance that could reshape global market realities. To implement the values of sustainability at the heart of a basic market institution like contracts might in the long run even transform our economic thinking.

Keywords: global law, sustainability, standard terms, world bank, international finance cooperation