How it works
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Reporting Boundary: All UK partners and staff and 4 sites: 65-66 Lincolns Inn Fields; 20-23 Lincolns Inn Fields; IB Kingsway
Emission Sources: Electricity, T&D Losses, Natural Gas, Water, Waste, Business Travel, Paper, Homeworking (excluded from footprint)
Reporting Period: 01 May 2021 to 30 Apr 2022
We engage our employees and wider stakeholders to unlock their talent and knowledge to drive year on year progress in sustainability.
We recognise that transparent communication is essential for transformational change and we quantifiably contribute to 6 SDG.
London-based Farrer & Co, an independent law firm that advises a range of clients on every aspect of the law, has achieved Planet Mark certification. Achieving Planet Mark is based on the commitment to continuous improvement in sustainability in its business operations by measuring and reducing its carbon footprint and engaging its stakeholders.
Over the next year, Farrer & Co will be working towards reducing its carbon emissions and sharing its journey with its community to inspire others. By being more strategic about its environmental responsibility, the company will be able to significantly increase its positive impact and hope to encourage continual improvements within its community.
Through Planet Mark, Farrer & Co has protected an area of endangered rainforest thanks to Cool Earth; a charity working alongside rainforest communities to halt deforestation. Its pledge through Cool Earth directly supports the Asháninka community in Central Peru.
It has also helped the Eden Project – an educational charity building connections with each other and the living world, exploring how we can work together towards a better future.
“It is great to see Farrer & Co make a commitment to combating climate change. Putting down a marker and committing to reducing its environmental impact will be positive news to its wide range of stakeholders and clients. The industry needs to take note: measuring and reducing carbon impacts will become the new normal, and I applaud Farrer & Co for being a pioneer.”
“Farrer & Co is committed to reducing our carbon footprint and becoming a more sustainable business. Aligning with the Planet Mark certification process has helped us to measure our overall environmental impact in much more detail. We have also committed to reducing our carbon footprint by at least five per cent each year.”
Simon Graham added “We have achieved The Planet Mark certification in May 2019, May 2020 and now again in May 2021. For our most recent certification year, we have reduced our total carbon emissions by 53.2%. This impressive reduction has been possible as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and a transition to home working around the firm. Going forward and as we return to the office, it seems unlikely that the unprecedented circumstances of the past year will be repeated, however, this year’s results do give us a benchmark to aspire to. We are continuing to work on reducing our carbon emissions, for example through the refurbishment of our office space, which we hope will have a lasting effect on our carbon footprint in the future.”
Farrer & Co is committed to looking at ways to reduce the adverse impacts of its business on the environment. From monitoring the levels of use of finite resources, and targets to reduce these year-on-year, it has identified a number of areas in which it can improve or lessen its impact on the environment. These include targeted policies on waste management, energy consumption (through building energy usage and travel), and improving its sourcing and supply chain sustainability.
The legal industry must take action on climate change. As we enter a decade of climate action, law firms have many reasons to take stock of their environmental credentials. First, as businesses continue to analyse their supply chains for environmental impacts, law firms recognise the risk of falling behind on sustainability. Second, as the law develops around sustainability, law firms will want to reassure clients that their expertise is evolving with the most pressing concerns to modern businesses.
To recertify next year Farrer & Co must reduce emissions by 2.5%.
A 5% year-on-year reduction is the target reduction recommended by Planet Mark.
