Reporting boundary: London office operations
(Friary Court and Boundary House)
Emission sources: electricity, T&D losses, natural gas, water, waste, business travel, paper use
Reporting Period: : 1 Jan 2019 – 31 Dec 2019
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 7 SDG’s.
HFW, an international law firm providing expert solutions on all aspects of international commerce, has achieved Planet Mark certification.
HFW’s total carbon footprint for the year ending December 2019 was 1,522.8 tCO2e, a decrease of 12.8% from the year ending 2018. The relative carbon footprint was 3.5 tCO2e per employee, a decrease of 17.1% compared to the year ending 2018.
Through HFW’s sustainable practices, the firm has managed to save carbon emissions the equivalent of nearly 100,000kg of coal being burned this year.
HFW also calculated their Social Value for the year ending 2019. HFW’s Social Value contribution for the year was £3,764,816. They reported on 9 Social Value measures with the top three contributors being employing local staff, pro-bono work and supporting young people into work.
“HFW has their eyes on the future, and the company is making fantastic strides towards sustainability. The results from this year are wonderful to see and are evidence that hard work, and smart work, pays off. The urge to act on climate change has never been more pressing, and HFW have listened to the call to action and responded in force. This will have positive impacts throughout so many areas of the business. I applaud the team for their efforts.”
HFW is committed to increasing their positive, and reducing their negative, impact on the environment through several initiatives. The firm celebrates World Environment Day as a moment to engage its employees in sustainable practice. The firm’s partnership with Renewable World aims to reduce poverty in the developing world using renewable energy, and its aerospace team has offset the emissions for the carbon produced in air travel.
In the decade of climate action, law firms must capitalise on consumer’s increasing awareness of our need to save the planet from climate change. Becoming knowledgeable about sustainability and following good practice has become an integral part of client acquisition in the legal sector. This is why sustainability has become an increasingly important issue at board level across the world. Many firms report that good sustainable practice is of growing importance in the recruitment and retention of staff. A robust sustainability and carbon reduction can thus become part of a long-term profitability, resilient and climate friendly strategy.
As part of the Planet Mark certification, HFW has committed to making a year-on-year reduction.
