Thinking differently about collaboration
Keeping up the momentum in the fight against climate change. Bringing competitors together to help tackle the world’s biggest issue. Gathering and disseminating information and best practice ideas.
When it comes to environmental sustainability, law firms have the opportunity to punch above their weight, thanks to the range of areas that we work in and the influence we can wield. But how much more effective could we be as a sector working together rather than as individual firms? It was this idea that was behind the formation of the Legal Sector Alliance (LSA) in the UK.
Having seen how much was learned at The May Day Business Summit on Climate Change, led by The Prince of Wales, we wanted to keep the momentum going. Working with Business in the Community and the Law Society of England and Wales, DLA Piper proposed a new alliance that would empower the legal sector to collaborate on matters of environmental sustainability and climate change.
DLA Piper is one of the founding members of the LSA alongside 17 other law firms – both large and small, the Environmental Law Foundation and the Law Society of England and Wales. Each founding member has committed the time of its senior executives and operational experts, as well as providing financial support to help realise the LSA’s vision of providing support and best practice examples on climate change and environmental sustainability to law firms of all sizes and specialisms.
The website www.legalsectoralliance.com is a repository of ideas, links and case studies from LSA members aimed at disseminating what has been learned so far as a shared resource.
As a result of a recent sector survey, the LSA has identified that many law firms have not yet measured the environmental impact of their activities, particularly in the area of greenhouse gas emissions. In recognition of this fact, the Alliance is developing the Legal Sector Alliance Carbon Footprint Protocol to assist the profession in managing and measuring its current environmental footprint with a particular emphasis on reducing operational consumables and GHG emissions.
The next phase of the LSA strategy is to develop a set of environmental sustainability principles designed specifically for the sector.