|
THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF ARBITRATORS |
Home | Contact Us | Site Map | FAQs |
|
|
THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF ARBITRATORS |
Home | Contact Us | Site Map | FAQs |
The Institute...About the Institute Apply for Membership Courses  |
As Climate Changes, CIArb is chosen to resolve disputes to save the environmentFebruary 20th 2003 - The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) has been nominated by six of its peers to provide adjudication services on their behalf in support of the Climate Change Agreements (CCA). The Climate Change Adjudication Service will provide independent impartial adjudication when disputes arise between the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and industry sector associations and individual companies. The climate change levy is a tax on the use of energy in industry, commerce and the public sector, with offsetting cuts in employers' National Insurance Contributions and additional support for energy efficiency schemes and renewable sources of energy. The levy forms a key part of the Government's overall Climate Change Programme. The levy will play a major role in helping the UK to meet its targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It entails no increase in the tax burden on industry as a whole and no net gain for the public finances. The reforms are intended to promote energy efficiency, encourage employment opportunities and stimulate investment in new technologies. The new adjudication service will come into use from April 1, 2003 when DEFRA's first round of performance assessments takes place to ensure that each participating business hits its first level of targets. Following this, according to the agreements, any business that wishes to seek adjudication must refer to the CIArb run service before approaching a judicial review. The CIArb has been chosen due to its experience in administrating arbitration, mediation and adjudication services through its dedicated Dispute Resolution Services Department, which has handled over 22,000 disputes since 1993. This experience means that the CIArb will be able to administer the service quickly and cost-effectively as an every-day concern. Plans to make the service available online are in progress and expected for completion by May 2003. The CIArb was also chosen to train adjudicators for the panel, based upon its success as a training provider for adjudicators in the construction industry. The first training course took place in November 2002, and the
CIArb will maintain an online network of adjudicators across the
industries that are involved so that they can maintain contact with
each other and ensure best practice is deployed in the interests
of all stakeholders. The CIArb nominates an adjudicator at the request
of the parties and charges an administration fee to do so. Adjudicator's
fees are negotiated between the adjudicator and the parties prior
to the adjudicator accepting the nomination. The outcome of any adjudication process will not necessarily be binding for DEFRA and the Secretary of State. At the end of each process, there may be cases where the Secretary of State and an operator continue to take a different view and the operator may decide to challenge the Secretary of State's decision in the courts through the judicial review procedure. The adjudication service has been established by the CIArb, in
association with the Institute of Energy, and on behalf of the Institute
of Materials, Minerals and Mining, the Institution of Civil Engineers,
the Royal Society of Chemists, the Institute of Mechanical Engineers
and the Institution of Electrical Engineers.
The climate change levy came into effect from 1st April 2001 and applies to all but the smallest energy users in the non-domestic sector. It affects supplies of electricity, gas, coal and liquefied petroleum gas. This follows the recommendations made in Lord Marshall's report Economic Instruments and the Business Use of Energy published in October 1998. The Government recognised the need for special consideration to be given to energy intensive business sectors in view of their energy usage. The Government has provided an 80% discount from the levy for those business sectors that can agree and deliver on challenging targets for improving their energy efficiency or reducing carbon emissions. Consequently, companies operating energy intensive processes are eligible to enter into 12 year Climate Change Agreements (CCAs) with the Government. There are ten major energy intensive sectors (aluminium, cement, ceramics, chemicals, food & drink, foundries, glass, non-ferrous metals, paper, and steel) and thirty smaller sectors. Agreements have been negotiated with DEFRA, on behalf of the Government, with the relevant sector associations (on behalf of the companies within the sectors concerned). There are currently 44 CCAs that cover around 5,500 companies and approximately 12,700 UK "facilities". CCAs have been made at two levels. First, with bodies which represent relevant business sectors (sector associations) and, second, with companies operating eligible facilities. These agreements are known as `umbrella agreements' and 'underlying agreements', respectively, and (broadly) follow a standard format. All umbrella agreements are made between the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and sector associations. Most underlying agreements have been made between the Secretary of State and participating cases but in six cases ("Option 3 Agreements") the underlying agreements are between the sector associations and the companies concerned, approved by the Secretary of State. There is no practical difference in the operation of the two types of agreement. |
 |
Quick Links |
||
Membership |
Courses and Events |
Dispute Resolution |
The Institute... |
Meeting Rooms |
Book Store |
|
|||
|
Copyright © Chartered Institute of Arbitrators 2005 12 Bloomsbury Square, London WC1A 2LP |
|||
Print this page