Hot on the heels of the recent Watson Farley Williams announcement of a science-based reduction target, the firm have embarked on the next stage of their sustainability journey.
”We’ve been working towards ISO 14001 Environmental Management Certification for our London office over the last year” explained Ben Churchill, WFW’s Global sustainability lead, ”It is imperative that we have the right systems and processes in place to deliver carbon reduction”.
A key driver for WFW is not just to have a recognised methodology to manage its environmental impact, but to do so with UKAS certification to show that the approach meets international standards and will be independently verified. This is with the intention of giving confidence to clients and other stakeholders that the firm will meet its aims.
ISO 14001 encourages collaboration and firmly connects leadership with the process. The appeal for law firms is often that it creates a firm mechanism for setting strong reduction objectives and ensures there are clear responsibilities in place to deliver on action plans.
There is also a strong requirement to understand and demonstrate environmental compliance. Many firms use the output of compliance as part of their carbon footprint, such as compliance records for energy, waste, or Fgas and ISO 14001 integrates these records into a monitoring and measurement process.
”We have also applied key ISO 14001 principles in our Global Environmental Charter” continued Ben, ”this helps all of our offices globally focus on environmental best practice and continual improvement.’’