By Michael Ryland, President of GAIL, Asia Pacific Board Member

Raising the bar

As we turn the corner into 2026, I sense a mounting confidence that the groundwork for an Impact economy is taking hold – and a growing impatience to see that groundwork bear fruit.

For us as Impact lawyers I think this means we need to raise the bar. 

In terms of our ambitions, we need to raise the bar for the Impact outcomes sought. They are not being achieved fast enough or widely enough. 

In terms of our own contributions, we need to raise our own bar. What worked yesterday is not cutting through today. Solutions that are not achieving expectations need to be redesigned. They must fit the scale and urgency of the problems now faced. They must be able to be negotiated through a crowded, complex and volatile landscape. 

Using the GAIL platform

GAIL is the platform to do this. I am inspired by the work that GAIL has done this year, the ideas that are being explored by GAIL and its partners, and the commitment and creativity of everyone involved in GAIL. There is no one better placed to raise the bar for Impact lawyering and no one better placed to deliver. 

Mexico Summit

Nothing demonstrates this better than the GAIL Summit in Mexico in October.

Each GAIL Summit reignites Impact lawyers. It renews the sense of purpose, inspires with examples of what GAIL members are doing around the world, and opens up new or different ways of looking at issues.

The recent GAIL Summit in Mexico did this in spades! The energy it generated, and the enthusiasm and goodwill, cannot be adequately reflected in words. 

A huge thank you to the LATAM team for their amazing work putting it together and for their wonderful hospitality, and to Sarah, Keya, Karen and Louise for all their stupendous work behind the scenes to help make it happen.  

Immense challenges

The Summit touched on many themes. I wanted to highlight just a couple that struck me – all of them showing a different angle on raising the bar for Impact law.

The first is climate & biodiversity. These issues run through many different areas of Impact. They pose immense challenges and need immense solutions. 

For us as lawyers, we need to remember that this is a justice issue – between generations, between communities, between stakeholders. 

This has played out so far in some landmark litigation and innovative template contracts. This is just the start.   

Much work has been done on the technical aspects of reducing emissions and on financial measurement. But the legal framework for climate and biodiversity as justice issues, and the legal instruments to implement that framework in day-to-day law, are at a much earlier stage.   

This is an area for legal creativity. It needs legal innovation on natural and social value recognition and value creation to help generate a more sustainable risk/return analysis, and to go beyond zero-sum compromises where economic and environmental objectives clash. 

Cutting through

A second theme was the need for Impact lawyers to meet the market where it is. 

In many countries the politics is increasingly fractious. Business, foundations and NGOs are negotiating a difficult landscape. 

Impact lawyers need to be supportive and creative. Making things simpler and achievable. Enabling clients to find and focus on common purpose. Using language that connects. Ensuring a focus on strategic thinking – looking for long-term value and resilience.

This cuts across all the work that we do. The issue came up, for example, in the discussions at the Summit on creating protections for impact investment structures, on how to pursue responsible contracting, and on dealing with the winding back of social and environmental regulation. 

In one sense, this is not new. Creativity and a focus on the Impact has always been part of Impact lawyering. But the need is more acute, and the need and opportunity to support and draw on each other, never greater.

Showing value

A third theme is that the law needs to show its value. We received two strong messages from the non-lawyers at the Summit:

• Law is not responding to the biggest challenges. Inequality is a reality. The law is failing because it is based on stability, procedures, and order, and the drivers for law reform are not strong enough or bold enough.
• Law needs to be a catalyst for systemic change. Lawyers – especially Impact lawyers – need to be legal system architects.  Impact lawyers need to be rule shapers, not rule takers.

Now that raises the bar and is a call for action.

Thanks

This is my last column as President and I owe many debts of gratitude to everyone I have been working with. Too many to cover everyone in this column, but I did want to mention a couple, and for everyone else, please know you are remembered in spirit.

The first thank you is combined with a farewell. As many of you know, for various periods during the last year both Sarah and Keya have been on maternity leave.  Karen Sng Sugden and Louise Williams have done an amazing job keeping GAIL running smoothly during that period, picking up the numerous different strands of GAIL activities.  We farewell them both in Q4 this year, and  I want to pass on my great thanks for everything they have done. 

A second thank you goes to Sarah Dobson James and Keya Advani.  They have returned to a GAIL that is adapting to different circumstances, both in terms of the world of Impact law and GAIL’s own ambitions and resources.  So this is a welcome back and heartfelt thanks for picking up the reins and taking us forward again.

My third thank you is to the team of Officers taking over.  I am handing over to Melissa Manzo, this year’s Vice President, who I know will do – has already started doing! – a fantastic job leading GAIL next year, together with Emiliano Giovine as Vice President and Jessica Blumenthal as Secretary.   

We have been working as a team throughout this year and I am deeply grateful for all their wise counsel and support.

It has been a great privilege to be President of GAIL this year and a fabulous opportunity to connect with all of you. I look forward to continuing to be part of the GAIL community, and I hope you all continue to enjoy being Impact lawyers!

Michael Ryland
24 November 2025