2024 marks the third year The Legal 500 will be researching firms’ dedication to sustainability matters and contributions to a green transition. With preparations for the next round of Green Guide editions underway, the depth of information gathered to date presents a unique opportunity to look back, review the results of our efforts, and examine the current state of play with regards to law firms, sustainability and their climate action.

The past year has seen another push towards acknowledging the impact of climate change on lawyers, the role of lawyers in addressing the climate crisis, and the need to work towards climate conscious legal practice. In the UK, in March 2023, a group of lawyers signed a declaration of conscience, ‘Lawyers are Responsible’, calling on legal professionals to act urgently to address the climate and ecological crises, advance a just transition, and withhold services supporting new fossil fuel projects. In April 2023, this was shortly followed by the Law Society issuing guidance for solicitors on incorporating climate change considerations into their practice. Not long after in June 2023, a group of law firms in the UK launched the Legal Charter 1.5, a landmark initiative urging and supporting firms to respond meaningfully to the climate crisis. Similar actions have sprung up elsewhere around Europe and further afield.

In turn, this past year, the Green Guide has seen a significant expansion of submitting firms wishing to participate in our research, with submission numbers almost doubling in various jurisdictions. The most recent 2024 EMEA Green Guide saw a 48% increase in the number of submissions and a 42% increase in the number of firms featured. In the 2024 UK Green Guide, we had a 48% growth in featured firms after receiving an 11% increase in submissions. In our Asia-Pacific edition, the number of firms included rose by 74% and submitters by 34%, while in Latin America both featured and submitting firms more than doubled.

Around the world, an increasing number of firms are waking up to the importance of ESG, not only in terms of creating a dedicated client service offering, but also in terms of their own internal operations.

This is of course a business imperative for many firms, with ESG legal advice hot in demand and sustainability credentials good for the brand. Indeed, ESG can strengthen a firm’s reputation, as well as benefit recruitment and retention. But it also comes with risks. As sustainability and climate consciousness are gaining more attention, so is greenwashing. While law firms will see the challenges their clients face in connection with the increased scrutiny on false sustainability and environmental claims, they too are not immune to potential allegations.

On a green mission

During our research for the Green Guide, while we have witnessed an expanding range of firms engaging with sustainability matters, we have also observed an – albeit still small – but growing number of firms for whom ESG is not just business but who truly want to do right by society at large.

Often these are young or newly established firms, who have taken the opportunity of launching a new venture to purposefully write ESG into their DNA. One pioneer is Hong Kong-based Ben McQuhae & Co, which launched in 2021 as a commercial law firm with an explicit focus on ESG and sustainability practices. Self-defined “lawyers for tomorrow” who want to build a sustainable future, the team provides legal support only to projects which make a positive impact through alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In order to enforce this, the firm has developed an SDG tracker to assess and measure the impact of its work against the SDGs. Its work is matched by serious external engagement in ESG thought leadership and an internal commitment to become a carbon net zero firm.

2021 also saw the launch of Sustainable Law in Denmark and 1,5 in Norway. In both cases, the name says it all: the Danish boutique was founded by project development expert Merete Larson who has based her entire business model around people, planet, and profit. 1,5, meanwhile, is an independent and specialist firm established by Jens Naas-Bibow, former head of the renewables department at Thommessen, and Frode Støle, a former judge at the Oslo District Court, with a focus exclusively on renewable energy, infrastructure and sustainability. Viewing law as a tool to help clients combat climate change, it aims to contribute to the 1.5-degree goal via its work.

In the UK, two new firms both launched in 2022 which have committed themselves to building a sustainable future. Paxus, which was founded by ex-Allen & Overy partner Suzanne Spears, was established to provide representation at the intersection of business and human rights, including addressing the climate crisis from a human rights angle. The firm aligns itself with the Law Society’s Climate Change Resolution and has signed the Greener Arbitrations Pledge.

Pallas Partners, another a disputes-focused boutique, was launched by former Boies Schiller Flexner London head Natasha Harrison. Despite its focus on commercial and financial disputes, it has taken on various clients and mandates driving positive change in society and the environment while also committing to the Campaign for Greener Arbitration as well as the Greener Litigation Pledge.

The latest addition to UK-based firms with a grand vision is Gen R Law, whose mission statement is to change the future for the next generation. Joshua Domb, previously a white collar crime and investigations associate at international full-service firms, envisions his new firm to practise law through the lens of addressing climate change, with specialist climate change, environment and green-tech expertise embedded in every practice area. As doors opened in March 2024, he is initially assisting clients with establishing a robust ESG programme by providing board training.

But it is not only a new generation of law firms innovating with new business models. Established firms are also trying to make a difference, such as Burges Salmon in the UK. An early adopter of measuring, managing and reporting on its emissions (since 2008), over the past years, the firm has taken its values to the next level with a rigorous and transparent approach to responsible business, implementing comprehensive measures across all three segments of E, S and G.

City firm Bates Wells has a particular focus on charities and social enterprises, therefore it is not entirely unsurprising that it sits among the more purpose-driven law firms, demonstrating a serious commitment to reducing its impact on the environment and supporting a just transition to net zero. Backing its ethos of putting profit and purpose on an equal footing, the firm was the first in the UK to be certified as B Corp in 2015.

That same year, Lux Nova Partners launched in the UK as a team of senior lawyers with no offices but one common purpose: advising communities, businesses and governments on clean energy, circular economy and nature based solutions, and an explicit policy of never supporting the fossil fuel industry.

Noteworthy are also two other litigation firms which aim to have a positive impact on the environment through the cases they bring. Pogust Goodhead was created specifically to address environmental wrong doings committed by corporations. The class actions law firm’s origins are tied to the Volkswagen diesel emissions fraud claim and the representation of the victims of the 2015 Mariana dam collapse in Brazil against BHP, and it has secured several precedent setting rulings. Its mission to help individuals, groups and businesses acquire access to justice is inextricably linked to its genuine commitment to the green transition.

Similarly, Leigh Day, despite its origins as a specialist personal injury firm, is now also at the forefront of representing claimants in landmark environmental litigation cases which often lead to crucial reforms in legal frameworks governing the protection of the environment, biodiversity, and wildlife. The firm has also led on some of the biggest group litigation cases, such as the Dieselgate scandal, and has brought the first cases which defined the law for how multinational corporations based in the UK could be held accountable for pollution and massive environmental degradation.

Elsewhere in Europe, for independent Swiss firm id est avocats, advising on green and ESG mandates is not only a growing line of business, but the team has made it part of its mission, consistently advocating for sustainable and responsible business practices and actively supporting green, impact, and ESG initiatives in the country. Its commitment is verified: The firm has also been a B Corp certified business since 2022.

In Austria, environmental boutique Niederhuber, given its background and focus on environmental issues, quite naturally and without much fanfare lives and breathes the green transition. Its dedication to climate action extends from enabling environmentally friendly and sustainable projects for its clients to shaping the legal policy discourse in the country. Forming alliances with the like-minded, the firm has an informal partnership with Austrian procurement specialists Heid & Partner, who specialise in and are big proponents of green procurement. A self-described life cycle law firm, it has built “360 degree sustainability” into its advice from start to finish of every client’s project.

In Germany, von Bredow Valentin Herz lives and breathes green energy. Similar to Lux Nova in the UK, the Berlin-based boutique is not only a specialist in renewable energy but also driven by the conviction that we urgently need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and implement a comprehensive energy transition. Since the founding of the firm, it has cooperated with the Research Centre for Sustainability and Climate Policy.

Another similar outfit – an energy boutique focusing exclusively on the energy transition – is Angulo Martínez in Colombia. Experts in energy, climate change and sustainability, the firm’s entire business approach is focused on sustainability and helping clients navigate the green transition.

Colombia also houses Mendoza Abogados, a finance boutique founded in 2018 which only advises on projects utilising clean technologies to minimise their negative environmental and social impacts while furthering the government-promoted renewable energy targets. Proud of its high ethical standards, the firm is committed to helping clients develop sustainable projects, promoting ESG factors, and advancing the green transition in the country.

Lastly, in the Dominican Republic, boutique firm Santroni Parsons has also made sustainability its core concern. Its sustainability specialists lead on client work pursuing green development within the tourism industry. While aiming to make the development of investment projects legally and environmentally viable from a compliance perspective, sustainability is considered the main objective.

Fewer emissions? More transitions!

The above mentioned law firms do not form a comprehensive list of those who have truly dedicated themselves to operating a business with the climate emergency in mind, and are merely some of the players we have come across during our research for the Green Guide. There will be other entities which have taken similar steps. There will also be others who have implemented serious and commendable science-based measures to achieve net zero; others with certain teams and departments handling important and impactful work towards a more sustainable planet; and individual lawyers at other firms who are personally committed to climate action. Yet law firms as a whole with ESG inscribed in their DNA remain a small minority.

While more and more firms are putting environmental and sustainability policies in place when it comes to their internal operations, and the bigger demand for sustainability and climate change-related advice has also created growing service offerings in this space, few firms are considering the environmental and climate impact of the work they undertake for clients.

As unsubstantiated green credentials will increasingly be put under the lens, the concept of advised emissions will gain in importance. These are emissions not directly generated by the law firm itself, but generated by the advice given by the firm to its clients. Looking into the future, as businesses are going to be held increasingly accountable for their contributions to the climate crisis, law firms not taking into account their advised emissions may very well start to have the adverse effect of undermining firms’ sustainability efforts elsewhere.

In other words, firms are continuing to take on mandates connected to high-emitting activities while at the same time promoting their sustainability practices. The next big transition in firms’ sustainability journeys will require a closer look not only at operational emissions – which will be comparatively small – and capacity building in relevant areas of practice, but ensuring the provision of climate-aware advice across the board.

The Bar holds a unique position in the fight against climate change, biodiversity loss, and in driving the green transition. Barristers’ specialist legal knowledge and their physical presence in the courtroom empower them to advocate for cross-sectoral change required to deal with these multifaceted issues.

The following feature outlines some key trends when considering the Bar’s engagement with the climate crisis and green transition. The first section highlights some particularly influential work, including reference to climate and environmental litigation against both state entities and corporations as well as complex disputes and challenges to specific energy projects. The second part addresses Chambers’ and Inns of Court’s sustainability journeys and some of the challenges and opportunities specific to the Bar. Accompanying the analysis are specific examples of the above from 39 Essex Chambers, Cornerstone Barristers, Doughty Street Chambers, Matrix Chambers and Twenty Essex. These London-based chambers have demonstrated a clear focus on work that mitigates climate change and promotes sustainability backed by strong internal green initiatives and best practices.

Featured Chambers

39 Essex Chambers

Cornerstone Barristers

Doughty Street Chambers

Matrix Chambers

Twenty Essex

Contribution to key cases

There has been a significant rise in climate change-related disputes, with the number globally having more than doubled since 2015. Citizens and NGO groups are increasingly utilising the law to challenge state structures on their insufficient action in tackling climate change as well as corporate actors for their role in accelerating the climate crisis. Also inevitably connected and of significance is the upsurge in environmental lawsuits which focus more directly on matters concerning biodiversity loss and pollution.

Many landmark cases have taken place in European courts such as the Urgenda climate proceedings against the Dutch Government in 2019 in which 900 Dutch citizens sued the government for not acting sufficiently on the climate crisis. The judgement was of particular significance as it confirmed the threat that climate change poses to human rights. Cases such as this are also a catalyst for societal change and can have a domino effect (whether they are successful or not). The Urgenda case was as much about challenging the state’s passive inaction as it was about its failure to fulfil existing climate commitments, and actively contributing to human rights violations of its citizens. In the years since Urgenda’s victory in the Netherlands, similar cases have cropped up across the world and barristers have been in a unique position to advocate for green change on behalf of their clients.

• At Matrix Chambers, public lawyer David Wolfe KC acted for Friends of the Earth between 2021 and 2022 in its challenge to the legality of the Government’s Net Zero Strategy whilst energy and environmental expert Jessica Simor KC acted on behalf of Client Earth. The challenges were successful with the court ordering the government to produce a new strategy by March 2023. This is one of the biggest climate change cases in the UK to date.
• In March 2023, Jessica Simor KC who operates from Matrix Chambers represented more than 2,000 elderly Swiss women in the first climate change case heard before the European Court of Human Rights. The claimants argue that the Swiss government’s response to climate change is inadequate and has negatively impacted their health. The ECtHR can be expected to reach a decision by the end of 2023 at the earliest.
• Sam Goodman, who is a barrister at Twenty Essex, is acting for Client Earth in one of the most significant commercial litigation cases in the English court which will examine the Board of Shell PLC’s net zero strategy. The claimant alleges the Board is in breach of their director’s duties in adopting an irrational strategy and failing to prepare the company for net zero.

In addition, the green transition has inevitably been accompanied by more complex disputes concerning energy projects. These can range from challenges by environmental NGOs to proposed and existing fossil fuel projects to conflicts between competing renewable energy projects, which are also important to resolve to prevent critical delays to the energy transition.

• Planning and environmental law specialists Richard Harwood KC and Celina Colquhoun from 39 Essex Chambers are acting for Orsted Hornsea Project Four in respect of the conflict between their offshore wind farm scheme and BP’s major carbon capture project; both are planned on the same site in the North Sea.
• Estelle Dehon who operates from Cornerstone Barristers is representing South Lakes Action on Climate Change in the statutory review of the granting of planning permission for a new coal mine extending under the seabed in Cumbria. The High Court will hear the legal challenge in October 2023.
• Climate change and human rights specialist Tim Cooke-Hurle from Doughty Street Chambers is instructed by Global Legal Action Network as sole counsel to mediate ongoing proceedings before multiple NCPs and the OECD regarding serious human rights abuses and environmental pollution at the Cerrejón coal mine in Colombia. Investigations into BHP, Anglo-American, Glencore and ESB are ongoing.
• At Twenty Essex, Monica Feria-Tinta is assisting ClientEarth (on behalf of Inclusive Development International) in the complaint against the insurance broker firm Marsh regarding the proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline by Total Energies set to be the longest heated crude oil pipeline in the world. The claimant alleges that in providing insurance, Marsh has failed to meet the standards for human rights and environmental due diligence under the OECD guidelines.

Barristers’ extensive expertise is also being utilised to reassess how the legal profession itself operates when faced with the gravity of the climate and ecological crisis. Doughty Street Chambers’ Margherita Cornaglia was instructed by The Good Law Project to draft a public letter which raises concerns over the ethical and legal issues regarding the role of lawyers in the context of the climate and ecological crisis. More specifically, the letter points to withholding professional services in the case of supporting new fossil fuel projects and acting against peaceful climate protestors. In March 2023, many lawyers including 18 barristers signed the declaration, which has resulted in significant backlash. Opponents claim that these actions constitute a breach of the ‘cab rank rule’ which prevents barristers from refusing work based on their own beliefs.

Greening the Bar

It is important for barristers and their chambers to recognise the role they play in the climate crisis both inside and outside of court. Attracting young talent is more important than ever and the extent to which Chambers and Inns of Court are undertaking their own sustainability and net zero journeys is undoubtedly a critical factor for those embarking on a career with The Bar.

Nevertheless, for barristers and their chambers, the net zero transition comes with a specific set of challenges. Approximately 80% of barristers are self-employed, meaning the vast majority lack a formal management structure. This presents limitations when it comes to enforcing sustainable behaviours within chambers. Take work travel, for example; many barristers can themselves decide whether they go by train or plane, and if, opting for the latter, whether this is by first-class, business-class or economy. For context, a long-haul first-class trip emits around four times the amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than the same trip in economy. In addition, compared to law firms, chambers have relatively fewer employees able to focus their attention on sustainability measures. Numerous chambers also operate from historical premises such as in the Inns of Court, preventing certain modernisation efforts focused on improving the energy efficiency of buildings.

Although some of these obstacles may require a more existential rethink of how The Bar operates – something no profession seems immune from amid the climate crisis – there are certainly achievable measures chambers can take such as switching to sustainable suppliers and energy providers, reducing paper use, and encouraging more climate-conscious behaviours of its members and staff. In March 2021 the Bar Council launched the Bar Sustainability Network to help chambers ‘transition to a more sustainable way of working’. Members benefit from a range of support and guidance including free use of the network’s carbon calculator tool.

• 39 Essex Chambers’ green strategy and committee is made up of both staff and barristers and has implemented various green initiatives focusing on improving its building, operations, and behaviours. The building itself is rated ‘excellent’ by BREEAM; it is fitted with bat boxes to encourage biodiversity and has a green roof with solar panels to lower emissions. To encourage more sustainable methods of transportation, staff and members are offered extra days of holiday for slower travel modes as well as a cycle-to-work scheme.
• Cornerstone Barristers implemented a ten-year green agenda strategy focused on minimising its direct and indirect environmental impact. As early joiners to the Bar Sustainability Network, the staff and its members regularly share best practices with other chambers and use a carbon calculator to measure emissions and help to set reduction targets. The sustainability committee oversees its transition to renewable energy sources and greening the supply chain. There is a core focus on educating the workforce as part of its strategy, nudging members to make climate-conscious decisions.
• Ben Cooper KC spearheads the chambers’ sustainability commitment at Doughty Street Chambers. Cooper founded the Green Team which is a collective of members and staff focused on decarbonising the practice in line with science-based targets. Cooper also founded the charity Dream for Trees, which the Green Team has supported by planting a new micro forest for schools in Camden and out of London.
• At Matrix Chambers, the catering has been entirely vegetarian since 2018 as a means of reducing its environmental impact. It has replaced water coolers and single-use plastic cups in the office with tap water and glasses. The Green Committee established in 2019 has focused on improving the Chamber’s recycling scheme and has moved to a 100% renewable energy provider for the premises. The committee publishes regular carbon footprint calculations to track its progress towards a goal of net zero for its Scopes 1 and 2 emissions by the end of 2025. Other measures taken include internal campaigns to improve the behaviour of its staff and barristers.
• Twenty Essex has opted for a Hive system at its premises at 18 and 20 Essex Street to best manage and monitor energy usage. In its expansion into 23 Essex Street, new meeting rooms have fitted filtered and sparkling water taps to eliminate the need for plastic bottles. It has also switched coffee machines to a brand that enables pod recycling. To reduce paper waste, the library team has corresponded with major publishers to advocate for increased digital provision so documents can be digitally numbered for court bundles and therefore do not need to be printed and scanned.

Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions cover an organisation’s direct operational impact and the impact of its supply chain. Another element to consider specific to the legal sector is ‘advised emissions’ (also referred to as Scope 4, Scope X, or lawyered emissions). According to The Law Society, these can be defined as ‘emissions associated with the matters on which solicitors advise, as a proxy for understanding whether these are reducing, alongside their clients, in line with the IPCC recommendations’. This is a particularly important topic of consideration in the legal profession in which direct emissions are limited in comparison with, for example, the industrial sectors.

As referenced in the first part of this article, a group of prominent lawyers have committed to withholding their services in respect of supporting new fossil fuel projects and acting against peaceful climate protestors. These types of commitments may demonstrate what reducing advised emissions may look like in practice, however, given the cab rank rule, how attainable are these commitments to barristers? The rule, which is arguably at the heart of the profession, simultaneously works to prevent discrimination whilst protecting barristers from condemnation when working on unpopular cases. Although no action has yet been taken against the 18 barristers (including six king’s counsels) who have signed the declaration, those going against it may face serious consequences by the agency of The Bar Standards Board in the near future, and junior member signatories could experience significant setbacks in their careers. No clear answer is on the horizon, but these conversations are undoubtedly important, and when faced with the existential threat of the climate crisis, we can expect them to continue.