LSA members cut carbon emissions to lead in tackling climate change

In a unique synchronised move, 32 law firms and the Law Society of England and Wales have unveiled their individual carbon footprints.

The results reveal an overall reduction in absolute carbon emissions of 4% among the LSA Executive members’ since the first public report in December 2008, demonstrating that carbon management remains a key priority for members, despite the economic downturn.

The firms and Law Society are publicly reporting their results simultaneously using the same methodology, having measured their carbon footprint using the LSA Protocol. Significantly, the drop in overall emissions is substantial as it was achieved in spite of considerable adverse business impacts associated with the macro-level economic downturn. Members reported that their reductions largely resulted from capturing efficiency gains associated with an improved knowledge of their firm’s carbon and energy footprint, which consequently saved them money during the recession.

The annual average carbon emitted per employee also decreased slightly (0.14%) against a backdrop of significant headcount reductions amongst LSA members in 2009.

The LSA Carbon Footprint Report (PDF, 2.2mb) contains a summary of the carbon footprint for each Executive member firm. To improve transparency and gain further knowledge of the carbon performance of its members, the 2009 LSA Carbon Protocol report also includes carbon footprint data from additional member firms that agreed to publicly disclose their footprint.

As LSA members report on carbon performance going forward, their ability to capture more data is continuing to advance as their data gathering mechanisms improve and they gain a greater knowledge of their operational carbon footprint. Law firms' data capturing processes are becoming increasingly robust and thorough, which can lead to recorded energy increases and accompanying carbon increases in the short term. By measuring and managing their carbon footprints on a regular basis firms can achieve ongoing carbon reduction in the long term.

Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said:

'While emissions vary due to the size and business models of each firm, sharing the results will help the firms to better benchmark their own environmental performance, identify areas for possible improvement and share ideas for carbon reduction. The process that LSA members have gone through to report these emissions, together with a commitment to reduce and report on them, is crucial.'

Burges Salmon is one of the LSA members to have achieved a significant reduction in its overall and per employee carbon emissions since last year’s LSA Carbon Report. Burges Salmon Managing Partner, Peter Morris said:

'As a founding member of the LSA we are delighted to have successfully reduced our emissions over the last year. This is due to a number of initiatives including a firm-wide campaign called The Big Switch Off that encouraged people to turn off equipment such as lights, PCs and monitors when not in use. They responded magnificently. An IT server virtualisation initiative to reduce their power consumption and the air-conditioning systems needed to cool them was also a contributing factor, enabling us to cut the number of IT servers we use by two thirds. Other initiatives include reviewing our print services strategy and a move towards electronic filing in order to reduce hard copy production and storage.'