DLA Piper’s global committee set to drive climate impact action plans across 40 countries

Last updated: 20th January 2022

DLA Piper is a leading global law firm with employees in more than 40 countries, it represents more clients in a broader range of geographies and practice disciplines than virtually any other law firm in the world. Keeping sustainability and accountability at the core of its corporate values, DLA Piper believes in revolutionising legal, financial, and operational frameworks by providing multidisciplinary guidance and services across sectors.

DLA Piper’s vision

As a proud signatory of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), DLA Piper is also devoted to maximising its own organisational performance by delivering corporate governance, transparency, disclosure, innovation and an enhanced ESG strategy.

By integrating Science Based Targets (SBTs) into its core business strategy its aim is to decarbonise its global portfolio, empower its employees to do the same and become a market leader in driving innovation and conducting responsive business.

 

DLA Piper’s partnership with Carbon Intelligence

Since 2018, Carbon Intelligence has been an integral part of DLA Piper’s sustainability journey. Initially DLA Piper worked with the team on improving the energy efficiency and performance of its office buildings, the partnership has subsequently expanded into a long-term multi-service relationship. This has included working with Carbon Intelligence’s senior consulting team to engage in a series of sustainability workshops to craft a strategy roadmap of decarbonisation activities, set credible emission reduction targets and maximise supplier engagement performance through Carbon Intelligence’s landmark six-dimensional (6D) framework.

The 6D Framework

The 6D framework provides a distinctive, innovative, and collaborative platform for diverse business streams and stakeholders to interconnect, maximises organisational performance and drives robust sustainability agendas for impact and purpose. It upskills employees from all backgrounds with up-to-date climate literacy, helping them navigate towards excellence and best practice corporate governance.

To support DLA Piper with its sustainability commitment, Carbon Intelligence helped establish an internal body, the International Energy and Climate Change Committee (IECC), dedicated to help drive through internal change programs and new mechanisms. The team worked with the IECC to implement the strategy by driving its strategic operations, creating new working streams across all business areas, optimising efficient energy usage, and reinventing its offices using sustainable design and travel.

 

Objectives of the 6D framework

Using the six dimensions of carbon intelligence framework (6D), DLA Piper has established a decarbonisation plan aligned with the UN’s goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C. The key milestones of the plan are to mitigate its Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions 50% by 2030 from a 2019/20 baseline. This target is verified by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi).

Achievements

As a result of implementing the above 6D principles and consistently monitoring and evaluating the developments of the framework, DLA Piper has achieved the following results:

 

  1. Achieved a 26% energy reduction through a combination of energy efficiency measures implemented as part of the Smart buildings programme and effective energy management processes put in place during the multiple lockdowns in 2020 and 2021
  2. Year to date electricity reduction of 38% compared to 2019 at DLA Piper’s head office in London.
  3. 844 tCO2 saved across all UK and French offices since July 2020 through effective shutdown processes during various lockdowns and the ongoing energy management programme

Next phase of the programme driven by the 6D framework

Looking ahead, Carbon Intelligence is channelling accelerated emission reductions for DLA Piper through a ‘Thoughtful Travel’ framework, internal carbon pricing and budgeting initiatives and development of a renewable energy strategy including purchase power agreement advice. All these programmes are operated using a smart data collection and management platform to ensure real-world monitoring, analysis, and reporting.

Explore every dimension of your company’s sustainability performance by taking our six dimensions assessment here.



N.B. The information contained in this entry is provided by the above supplier, and does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher


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