Green Initiative

We are concerned for the sustainability of the environment and we are working to improve our sustainable management practices.

Through our Green Initiative, which leverages the knowledge of our Environment & Climate Change practice and Responsible Business Group, we share best practices across our global network that reduce the environmental footprint of our operations, our employees and our suppliers. The initiative is overseen by Global Environmental Sustainability Manager and our Environmental Sustainability Committee, which comprises representatives from each region in which we operate, and our global procurement and IT functions.

Read our 2022 Environmental Sustainability Report

27%

of our energy usage is renewable energy

 

Our Environmental Sustainability Policy

• Ensure that we comply with all regulatory requirements and voluntary codes of practice applicable to each office
• Prevent pollution from our activities
• Implement sustainable waste management practices across the Firm in order to minimize the quantity of waste we produce and maximize the amount of waste we recycle
• Identify key resources used by each office and implement measures to ensure that we use those resources in an efficient manner
• Effectively manage our carbon emissions through continuing to improve the energy efficiency of our premises and effectively measuring the environmental impacts of our business travels
• Work with our suppliers and employees to promote and improve environmental performance

Firm actions to reduce our environmental impact

• In 2021, we completed our fourth carbon emission assessment in collaboration with Greenstone. Understanding that 2020 was an extraordinary year with many of us working from home, our key findings from 2019 and 2020 include:
  • Our total emissions dropped by more than 50 percent from 2019 to 2020, driven by reductions in air travel, waste and electricity usage, due mostly to COVID-19, and more offices switching to renewable energy sources.
  • Our electricity from renewable sources grew more than 500 percent between 2018 and 2019, as we switched more than 10 million kilowatt hours to renewables. Renewable energy is now approximately 35 percent of our electricity usage.
  • Our reported emissions per FTE between 2010 and 2019 have dropped by 15.1 percent.

• Our Environmental Management System sets out core practices and formalizes plans in each office to continue to reduce our environmental footprint. 

• Our Global Office Design Guidelines include sustainability principles to promote green practices in all aspects of office design.

• We have adopted many practices to reduce single-use plastics.

• Our annual Global Green Campaign, established in 2013, informs our people about important environmental issues, steps the Firm is taking, and ways we can all play a part in finding solutions.
   

For more detail about our activities, please contact Sarah Hickey, Global Environmental Sustainability Manager.

Learn more about our Environment & Climate Change practice