The battle against global warming has prompted law firms to assess how environmentally friendly and energy efficient their working practices and offices are, reports Dan Hayes


When the Kyoto Accord on reducing greenhouse gas emissions came into force in February, environmentalists may have rejoiced, but they also recognised that the battle against global warming was just beginning.


Many world leaders have acknowledged this fact and Prime Minister Tony Blair has called climate change the globe’s greatest environmental challenge. In a speech last September, he said: ‘What is now plain is that the emission of greenhouse gases, associated with industrialisation and strong economic growth from a world population that has increased six-fold in 200 years, is causing global warming at a rate that began as significant, has become alarming and is simply unsustainable in the long term.


‘And by long term I do not mean centuries ahead. I mean within the lifetime of my children certainly; and possibly within my own. And by unsustainable, I do not mean a phenomenon causing problems of adjustment. I mean a challenge so far reaching in its impact and irreversible in its destructive power, that it alters radically human existence.’


Of course, it is not just traditional heavy industries that need to clean up their act. Law firms, along with many organisations in the services sector, are looking at how they can reduce their environmental impact.


Several have already taken up the challenge in a variety of ways. City firm SJ Berwin, for example, recently signed up with environmental consultancy Future Forests to reduce its carbon emissions. The consultancy helps the firm measure emissions and balance them by planting long-term woodland or by investing in carbon-reduction projects. This ‘balance’ means the firm has become what Future Forests terms ‘carbon neutral’ – it counters its emissions with positive action that redresses the CO2 balance.


SJ Berwin’s senior partner, David Harrel, says: ‘Our London office is carbon neutral. As a business, it has been calculated that we produce almost 2,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, from all our machines, travel and waste. To offset that we have commissioned Future Forests to plant more than 3,000 trees in the south of England.


‘We see being carbon neutral as one of the ways we can take practical action on climate change. The initiative sits alongside other strategies to raise awareness, to improve energy efficiency and to reduce emissions in the first place.’


Future Forests is in talks with several other law firms and maintains that this is a sector that will grow and grow. The company’s operations director, Bill Sneyd, suggests that being carbon neutral can even have a commercial advantage for law firms. He says: ‘The whole issue of climate change is starting to gain a legal side. If a firm is pitching for that kind of business, then it needs to demonstrate its credibility. For the firm to be carbon neutral itself sends the right signals. It can also provide an element of differentiation when tendering for business.’


He adds: ‘A lot of businesses, both public and private, are looking at their supply chain and running environmental audits on key suppliers. Many firms have ISO14001 (environmental standards) systems, but what is often lacking is an eye-catching policy that transforms these into action. It is valuable to have a project that’s engaging; something that you can talk to clients about.’


But being environmentally sound is more than just a way for partners to charm potential clients by waxing lyrical on the gently rustling tract of woodland they have helped to create. It may also help firms in the battle to secure the best new talent, says Mr Sneyd. ‘One factor SJ Berwin has mentioned is that when firms do the milk round for graduates, it can be difficult for the students to see any significant differences between the firms. A lot of firms are asking about ways of doing something that’s socially responsible. Being carbon neutral is a way to demonstrate your firm is different and is doing the right thing.’


There are other ways in which assessing a firm’s environmental impact – drawing up what Mr Sneyd terms its carbon footprint – can help the bottom line as well as the planet. ‘The process opens the door to energy efficiency and the potential therein for cost savings,’ he says.


Other practices are also taking positive action on their environmental impact. Magic circle firm Clifford Chance, for example, is keen to stress its efforts to create a policy that ensures its operations safeguard the environment.


The firm’s lengthy briefing mentions promoting and increasing environmental awareness and responsibilities to staff members, complying with environmental legislation in all conducted operations and, as far as practicable, reducing to a minimum consumption of non-sustainable natural resources.


A spokeswoman maintains that these are not merely statements of intent. Clifford Chance worked with the developer of its Canary Wharf site to install energy-efficient systems and controls. Its building is the only one in Canary Wharf to receive an ‘excellent’ rating from the BRE Trust’s Environmental Assessment Method (Breeam) – the industry standard for evaluating how well buildings meet environmental standards – and is the largest office building in Europe to have received such an accolade.


Clifford Chance also points to the heat-sensitive lighting controls in its London office, which switch off automatically, the light sensors that automatically dim the lighting throughout the office on sunny days, and the fact that it recycles office furniture through not-for-profit organisation Green-Works. Other firms also use Green-Works: Lovells recycled 40 tonnes of office furniture when it moved offices.


Like SJ Berwin, Clifford Chance is also a planter of trees. The firm is part of a tree-planting programme in conjunction with Paper Planet, Highfield Park Trust and the Woodland Trust. Under this scheme, a tree is planted for every tonne of paper the firm sends for recycling. To date, more than 2,600 trees have been planted in this way and the equivalent of 44,500 saved.


But it is not all plain sailing, says Clifford Chance’s head of facilities management, David Exley. ‘When we’re bidding for work, we now have clients asking about our environmental policy and wanting us to use recycled paper, for example. But they also want the lowest-cost printing, so we’re sometimes caught between a rock and a hard place. At the moment this is a bit of a problem for us. We’re trying to use more and more recycled paper but we’re facing a bit of a dilemma. Clients want the best of both worlds.’


Firms can also look at what they consume in other areas to show their awareness of environmental and social issues. Fiona Thomson, spokeswoman for Traidcraft, a leading fair trade organisation, suggests they could show their awareness of social responsibility by sourcing their tea, coffee, biscuits, fruit juice and other meeting essentials from fair trade sources.


‘You can even get fair trade wine,’ she says, ‘which might be useful if you are having an event. You can buy it in supermarkets such as the Co-op or by the case from Traidcraft. There are such a wide range of products available now you’re almost spoilt for choice. You could even go the whole hog with fair trade tea towels. We’ve also just introduced fair trade music – people could listen to that while they wait to have their calls answered.’


During fair trade week in March, Birmingham law firm Anthony Collins pledged to use ethical and fair trade products wherever possible, starting off by switching to water-cooler company AquAid, which donates 10% of all water sales to Christian Aid.


While this may be at the nuts-and-bolts end of the scale, the wider debate over climate change and environmental impact is gathering pace. Mr Sneyd says: ‘In the past six to nine months, we’ve noticed this market really taking off. The Carbon Disclosure Project is a particular case in point and is something that potentially has legal aspects.’


The project provides a secretariat for the world’s largest institutional investor collaboration on the business implications of climate change. Investors collectively sign a single global request for disclosure of information on greenhouse gas emissions, which is sent to the 500 largest companies in the world. Some 300 have replied so far and report their emissions through the project’s Web site.


Mr Sneyd explains: ‘Some 140 institutional investors are behind this, with $20 trillion (£11 trillion) under management. That’s a really big deal.’


Links: www.futureforests.com; www.bre.co.uk; www.traidcraft.co.uk; www.cdproject.net




Dan Hayes is a freelance journalist