Birkett Long sets out a plan for a net zero target

Essex law firm Birkett Long LLP is tackling the battle against climate change head on, by working on a net zero carbon emission target - well ahead of the Government’s target for businesses of 2050.

A plan for the firm's goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions comes just as its new financial year begins. Birkett Long recognises the critical importance of reducing its carbon footprint and to help drive this forward the firm has formed a NetZero team. The action group consists of seven members of staff who are passionate about driving change for the benefit of the planet and future generations. The group will be achieving the goal via multiple projects for the environment and the community, covering office utilities, supply chains, waste management, commuting, volunteering and charity work.

To help demonstrate an impact from the word ‘go’, the first project will measure the firm’s baseline emissions footprint. The baseline will look at, scope 1 emissions made directly, including fuel used in vehicles and heating of the firm’s offices; it will also study. Scope 2 is indirect emissions from other sources – for example, electricity providers and Scope 3,  supply chain, business travel, employee commuting and waste management.

Martin Hopkins, Managing Partner, explains the background to this new project: 

“As well as our commitment to going above and beyond to look after client needs, one of our firm’s core values is to actively seek and support ways to reduce the carbon footprint of the firm and our staff.

“In March 2020 we began an initiative to drastically reduce the amount of printing we do as a firm. This involved quite a dramatic change to how we worked (lawyers are, after all, renowned for their reliance on paper records!) but we also looked at reducing the actual opportunity – or some might say, temptation – to print. We removed nearly sixty printers from our three offices and replaced the remaining printers with more modern, power-efficient devices that could print and scan documents easily by swiping a security pass.

“The impact has been an 80% reduction in the amount of paper we use, and a corresponding drop in the usage of other related resources. Just as importantly, we’ve improved our service by using email where possible rather than relying on the post for routine communications, which means clients get their information quickly.

“We’ve long demonstrated that we genuinely care about our people, our communities, and the environment. For example, each year we give our staff one day’s extra annual leave during which they can work for a charitable cause; we donate legal services; we had a ‘charity of the year’ – which, since 2002, has raised in excess of £421,000 – and we have pledged to give to food banks every year.

“This community work has been incredibly important to us, shaping our identity over the years, but this new initiative will help us take giant steps in our journey to becoming net zero. And later this year we’ll be launching an Energy and Environment team. We already help local business clients with legal issues surrounding energy and the environment but this new team will provide a more focused resource that will offer very specific advice and respond to a growing need in this area. 

“As for green energy, we have approximately 170 solar panels on the roof of Amphora Place, our Colchester office, which have saved approximately 50 tonnes of CO2 emissions since we moved in 5 years ago. That’s equivalent to planting 2,300 trees!

“Alongside all this, we will be engaging with our employees to encourage them reduce their carbon usage at home. We also plan to make further reductions to our paper usage and widen our study of measurable non-direct emissions. We know this will be a challenge but we are embracing it with huge enthusiasm.”