Our Environment

Our pathway to net zero

The climate crisis has laid bare the urgency to become an environmentally sustainable business. To that end, in our 2021 strategic review, we committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Our net zero target differs from pledging ‘carbon neutrality’ — which can be achieved solely by buying carbon credits — because it requires us to reduce our carbon emissions as much as possible and offset residual, irreducible emissions using offset schemes that permanently sequester carbon.

As part of our pledge to reduce our environmental impact in line with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi – see more in the boxout below), we appointed sustainability consultancy Achill Management to better understand the steps required to achieve this target.

Our carbon reduction timeline is integrated into our core commercial strategy — for which our Managing Partner Simon Ridpath and Operational Committee are accountable — and relies on collective behaviour change across the Firm.

Not all net zero targets are created equal

To drive a common understanding of “net zero” in a corporate context, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has established a global science-based standard. It is focused on accelerating companies across the world to halve emissions before 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions before 2050.

According to the SBTi[i], a company is only considered to have reached net zero when it has achieved its long-term science-based target. Most companies are required to have long-term targets with emission reductions against a baseline of at least 90-95% by 2050.

[I] https://sciencebasedtargets.org/net-zero

Our progress so far

Our carbon footprint: Three years on

We have revised our carbon reduction pathway to a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 as against our 2019 baseline level, in order to balance ambitious reduction targets with the strategic needs of the business. This revised pathway remains consistent with the SBTi recommendations and the IPCC target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. While there is still some considerable way to go, we reduced our carbon footprint in line with our interim targets during the 2021/22 period.

In 2019, our carbon emissions totalled 2157 tCO2e [ii] or 2.37 tCO2e per employee. As against that baseline, at the end of the financial year 21/22 we had reduced our emissions by 16% to 1806 tCO2e or 2.00 tCO2e per employee, with 33% attributable to electricity consumption, flights at 27% and 25% attributable to employees working from home.

[ii] tCO2e means 'tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent'. There are several types of greenhouse gas (GHG) which give rise to climate change. These include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxides, refrigerant gases etc. Many activities cause the release of several of these GHGs. To make accounting for carbon easier, we equate the impact of all these GHGs released to the impact of one unit of CO2 – hence the 'equivalent' part. One tonne of CO2e is equal to 1000 kilogrammes of CO2e.

Charles Russell Speechlys Carbon Reduction Timeline - UK Offices Combined

Location-Based Method - 50% Target - All figures tCO2e)

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What’s included?

Our working baseline:

Captures UK-related emissions, as this represents the lion’s share of our carbon footprint and we have well-established processes in the UK for capturing and verifying emissions data. The baseline and target reduction pathway do not currently include emissions associated with our international operations.

Includes as much of our Scope 3 or ‘supply chain’ emissions as we are currently able to measure accurately.

Our ambition is to set a new global net-zero target as soon as possible and we are working with our international colleagues to explore processes for local data collection and baselining. We are also constantly looking at ways to expand and improve the quality of our Scope 3 data.

We do not believe that the current (and common) deficiencies in our data justify any delay in taking steps to reduce our UK-related emissions. No business of our size has all the data today that it would need to achieve a completely consistent and smooth reduction trajectory to 2030. Nonetheless, the work of carbon emissions reduction must start now. As we develop a picture of our international emissions and our Scope 3 data improves, we will revise our baseline and reduction pathway as necessary and be transparent about that.

Location-based vs market-based approach?

All of our UK offices use green energy suppliers and our energy choices are a key focus for the Firm as we move along our net-zero pathway.

There are two widely accepted methods for carbon emission measurement — a location-based approach and a market-based approach, and they have a significant bearing on our carbon footprint calculation.

“The market-based approach uses source or supplier specific emission factors which means that if you procure certifiable 100% renewable energy you can show the related carbon emissions as zero,” says Jim Haywood, Director at Achill Management. “The location-based approach recognises that, although you’re paying for 100% renewable energy, you’re still getting your energy from the grid, which is a mix of green and brown energy. Good practice is to be transparent and report both location and market-based emissions from purchased energy.”

Both the market-based method and location-based method provide insights into our carbon footprint and reduction strategy. Our use of green energy suppliers in the UK combined with a market-based method would indicate remarkable progress in our net zero-ambitions, but we believe a location-based approach is a more realistic and transparent representation of our impact.