“Net Zero Now has been instrumental in supporting us on our journey to enhancing our data capturing and analysis in relation to our GHG emissions to understand our full impact and how we aim to reduce them on our journey to net zero.”
Jasmine Henricson, Sustainability Lead at Mishcon De Reya.
Commitment to Sustainability and Climate Action
Net Zero Now is proud to feature Mishcon de Reya, a pioneering law firm with a strong commitment to addressing climate change and reducing their environmental impact. As a founding member of the Greener Litigation Pledge, Legal Charter 1.5, SMI Legal Taskforce, and a signatory to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), Mishcon de Reya is dedicated to actively working towards achieving the ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. This case study explores Mishcon de Reya’s journey towards sustainability, their innovative strategies for reducing carbon emissions, and their leadership in promoting sustainable practices. We spoke with Jasmine Henricson, Sustainability Lead, to gain deeper insights into their efforts and achievements.
Insights from Mishcon de Reya’s Sustainability Journey
Can you introduce Mishcon de Reya's commitment to sustainability and how it aligns with your overall mission and values?
Environment is one of the three core pillars of Mishcon de Reya's approach to Responsible Business. It encompasses how we manage our operational environmental impacts, our leadership role in the profession in advancing the transition to net zero, and the support we offer to our clients in understanding their environmental risks and opportunities. At Mishcon de Reya, our purpose remains rooted in our core values. We have always been driven by an entrepreneurial, tenacious and socially conscious spirit: one that has embraced change in order to stay relevant and shape the future. Embracing and championing sustainability isn't just a part of our culture—it's ingrained in our core values.
We recently launched our environment strategy. It guides our leadership role in the legal profession as we pursue initiatives to address climate change and directs our strategic litigation work in advancing environmental protection and holding those responsible for harm to account. Within our own business, a central pillar of our approach to operating as a responsible business is to annually reduce our carbon emissions. We are actively working to achieve the most ambitious aim of the Paris Agreement, to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
What motivated Mishcon de Reya to partner with Net Zero Now on your journey towards sustainability, and how has this partnership been instrumental in your efforts?
Mishcon de Reya partnered with Net Zero Now in 2023 to enhance our commitment to accountability and transparency in accurately capturing and reporting our carbon emissions, ensuring clean data capture and a comprehensive representation of the firm's entire value chain. Accurate data is essential to fully understanding our impacts and setting effective mitigation strategies on our journey to net zero. We are now focusing on our Scope 3 emissions and working with our key suppliers to obtain accurate data values over spend-based values, as well as supporting our suppliers in their journeys to mitigate their environmental impacts. Net Zero Now has supported Mishcon in advancing our data-capturing systems, holding us to the highest standards in line with global best practices.
Can you share insights into the process of measuring your carbon footprint and setting science-based reduction targets? How has Net Zero Now's expertise or tools contributed to this critical analysis?
When we partnered with Net Zero Now, we embarked on a comprehensive process to understand all data points related to our GHG emissions across the business in line with the GHG Protocol and Science Based Target initiative requirements. This involved engaging stakeholders from multiple departments, including at international levels, and strengthening our relationships with suppliers to uphold our commitments to sustainability and robust reporting. This was a crucial step in setting our netzero science-based target and understanding our entire value chain of emissions. Net Zero Now provided invaluable support, guiding us through the data capturing process aligned to best practices, and helping us address our challenging data spots. From the process we were able to efficiently develop and publish our first Carbon Reduction Plan which identifies how we aim to achieve our science-based targets. Continuously working with Net Zero Now to accurately capture our emissions year on year will enable us to accurately analyse and measure progress against our Carbon Reduction Plan, ensuring we achieve significant emission reductions in line with our short-term and netzero targets.
What about two key sustainability initiatives undertaken by Mishcon de Reya?
Mishcon is proud to chair the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Legal Taskforce, which consists of a group of leading law firms committed to supporting the private sector transition to a sustainable future. The task force is working on multiple projects aimed at advancing the transition and using the law to deliver meaningful impact. Additionally, Mishcon co-founded and chairs Greener Litigation, a pledge to action those engaged in litigation in the transition to net zero and mitigating their environmental impacts. To date, Greener Litigation has gained over 127 signatories and produced multiple industry-leading resources and toolkits for the sector to use in their mitigation efforts.
Mishcon de Reya has committed to removing 100% of your unavoided emissions through nature-based solutions. How has this strategy been developed?
Mishcon is committed to operating in a sustainable manner that has a positive impact on society and the environment. We have committed to offsetting 100% of our residual emissions, outside of our annual operational reductions, through carbon removal with cross biodiversity benefits. We have been able to invest in multiple peatland and wetland projects, locally in the UK, removing carbon emissions from the atmosphere. We review our offsetting approach on an annual basis to ensure it aligns with best practices and where we can have the most meaningful impact.
Mishcon de Reya provides advisory services on climate change implications. How does this advisory work integrate with your sustainability goals?
The advice we provide to our clients on understanding their environmental risks and opportunities is a key component of our Environment Strategy, reflecting our commitment to operating as a responsible business. Mishcon Purpose works with our clients to help them engage confidently with the increasingly complex, urgent and regulated challenges at the intersection of business, government and society. We are a passionate team with a broad portfolio working in business, biodiversity, climate change and human rights. We advise corporates, boards and leaders on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and evolving directors' duties, combining lawyers and sustainability professionals to develop sustainability strategies and governance frameworks, and then to implement them – integrating specialist lawyers on key issues including incentives, supply chains, reputation and greenwashing, equity and inclusion, and regulatory compliance. We litigate to address social and environmental harms, to obtain justice for communities and other claimants, and to drive strategic change to address systemic challenges to society and the environment.
Mishcon de Reya is among the few law firms signed up to the SBTi. How do you plan to meet these ambitious targets, and how Net Zero Now supports your strategy and action plans?
We have just published our Carbon Reduction Plan and updated our Environment Strategy, outlining our approach to achieving short-term and net zero emissions targets. This strategy includes a stringent plan to ensure accountability as we move forward. By enhancing data capture and analysis, we have identified key areas within our value chain for investment in reduction initiatives and collaboration with key stakeholders. Net Zero Now has supported our plans by enabling robust data capture, aligned to the highest standards, helping us identify our carbon-intensive areas and target our decarbonisation efforts effectively.
Reflecting on your sustainability journey, what significant cultural shifts and community impacts have you observed at Mishcon de Reya?
People want to make a change and believe in a better future that is sustainable for forthcoming generations. This is evident among our people at Mishcon de Reya and the clients we support. The impacts of COVID-19 have transformed our working methods, and the founding of Greener Litigation has further driven changes in cultural habits and engagement within the firm. These shifts support greener working practices and a new way of thinking. Our Environment Committee is comprised of passionate stakeholders across each department in the business who are engaged in the firm’s environmental objectives, ensuring alignment and constructive feedback from our employee base, which is essential for the successful implementation and delivery of our objectives.
Looking forward, what are Mishcon de Reya's next steps towards achieving Net Zero, and how do you envision Net Zero Now playing a role in your continued sustainability journey?
We have just published our Carbon Reduction Plan, outlining how we aim to achieve our short-term and net zero targets while mitigating our environmental impact. Our next steps involve implementing key initiatives from the plan across the business and identifying opportunities to enhance our efforts. In 2024 we established our first Environment Taskforce, comprised of key departmental stakeholders from across the business, which have been mandated with actioning the Carbon Reduction Plan and driving progress across our SBTi targets. Net Zero Now will play a crucial role by providing accurate data, enabling us to efficiently analyse our progress in emissions reductions and uncover additional opportunities.
At Mishcon de Reya, we adopt an integrated approach to reduce our GHG emissions and mitigate our environmental impacts, and we strive to operate as sustainably as possible for the benefit of the environment and society. While we acknowledge that there is more to be done but, we are on the right path and have made significant progress. Net Zero Now have been instrumental in supporting us on our journey to enhancing our data capturing and analysis in relation to our GHG emissions to understand our full impact and how we aim to reduce them on our journey to net zero.
Setting the Standard for Sustainability in the Legal Sector
Mishcon de Reya’s integrated approach to reducing GHG emissions and mitigating environmental impacts sets a new benchmark in the legal sector. Their strategic initiatives, supported by the robust data capturing and analysis capabilities of Net Zero Now, demonstrate how legal firms can effectively tackle climate change. As Mishcon de Reya continues to implement their Carbon Reduction Plan and advance their sustainability goals, they exemplify the importance of a committed and strategic approach to achieving net zero. For other firms looking to embark on their sustainability journey, Mishcon de Reya’s progress offers valuable insights and inspiration.
Ready to take the next step in your sustainability journey? Contact us to learn how our carbon accounting solutions and climate action platform can help your firm achieve its environmental goals.
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