Law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer says it wants to reduce its carbon emissions from business travel by 30 per cent by 2025. The target is revealed in a new five-year global environment strategy outlined by the law firm and builds on a reduction of more than ten per cent already achieved since 2015/16.
In mid-January the firm revealed that its Scope 3 emissions, covering business travel (air, rail, taxi and personal car), hotels, electricity transmission & distribution, water supply & treatment, waste and paper, amounted to 15,941 tonnes CO2 equivalent. In 2015, the figure was 17,860 tonnes.
The reduction is not just about saving the planet. In its 2020 Climate Change report, the firm said that a ten per cent reduction in carbon from business travel would save the company £1,262,000.
The organisation, which employees nearly 5,000 staff in 28 offices worldwide, says it has implemented a global travel policy to help it meet its targets and has set up a travel working group with stakeholders internationally to help reduce unnecessary business travel.
It has also begun to roll out Microsoft Teams across its offices to increase the use of teleconferencing while it is also using behavioural change to achieve progress.
Georgia Dawson, Freshfields senior partner, said: “Our new environment strategy, with its bold targets and strong focus on the firm’s global carbon footprint, will ensure Freshfields remains a sector leader in integrating environmental objectives within our business. Building on our success in meeting the five-year targets we set in 2016, we are confident that through our new strategy we can achieve a successful and sustainable future for our firm.”
The firm also plans to set UN-supported, science-based targets over the next 12 months that will give it a clearly defined pathway to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Consulting firm EY recently made a similar pledge - to reduce carbon emissions from business travel by 35 per cent by 2025, compared to a 2019 baseline.