Osborne Clarke, an international legal practice of nearly 2500 employees, is rolling out an innovative approach to dealing with the thorny issue of the carbon impact of business travel. We talked to Pranjal Mathur, ESG Data Analyst at Osborne Clarke to find out more.

How much of your carbon footprint is business travel responsible for? Is it a growing issue?

As of FY24/25, business travel contributed to 9% of emissions – the highest percentage for business travel emissions since the science based target was set in 2020. Combined with employee commuting, 25% of FY24/25 emissions come from travel.

How are you addressing the issue?

In FY24/25, Osborne Clarke piloted a practice group-wide carbon travel budget in the Projects, Real Estate, and Finance (PREF) group whereby emissions were tracked monthly from travel related emissions and reported to practice group senior leadership, colleagues, and relevant stakeholders. In FY25/26 (present year), a firm-wide carbon travel budget pilot has remained on track with similar engagement through senior leadership and colleagues. FY26/27 will be the first year where an integrated carbon and financial budget will be implemented – allocating a carbon price to reward good travel behaviour.

Osborne Clarke is a large firm; how did you know the trial was ready to roll out?

The executive sponsor for Osborne Clarke’s sustainability steering group, Partner Michelle McGurl, was a strong supporter of the initiative and wanted to take leadership through her practice group, PREF, to trial the very first budget. Through these actions and the engagement received across various stakeholders, it became clear that the firm was ready to take an ambitious step.

How have you engaged colleagues and brought them along with you on this journey?

Colleague engagement has been fundamental. The environmental impact of Osborne Clarke’s operations is addressed through a year-round training series called ‘Carbon Literacy’. In this course, among other areas, travel is addressed and discussed as a key contributor to Osborne Clarke’s emissions. As a result, when the carbon travel budgets were launched, employees at Osborne Clarke were able to understand the impact of travel and value their decisions around travel.

How have you communicated the trial throughout the firm?

Various modes of communication have been used throughout FY24/25 and FY25/26. This includes intranet webpages that employees can check as a ‘leaderboard’ to identify which team is leading on low carbon practices. Monthly briefings to heads of teams are sent with key facts and actions for the coming months. Senior stakeholders in Osborne Clarke’s Executive board, Operations board, and Sustainability steering group were engaged on at least a quarterly basis to share impact, anecdotes, and key learnings.

Are you running any upskilling/education programmes alongside the roll out?

Carbon travel budget briefing sessions were held with several employees across Osborne Clarke’s three office locations (London, Bristol, and Reading) as well as through dedicated Personal Assistant training sessions where emphasis on “small decisions-big impact” was shared.

Which members of the workforce are particularly key to success?

Alongside fee earners who travel for client work, business services colleagues were also targeted on optimising travel with clear purpose and objectives. It is vital that the emissions impact of travel and the ability for “everyone to chip in” is shared across fee earners and business services colleagues. This ensures that genuine decarbonisation is delivered alongside adding common purpose to the initiative.

How have you secured senior leadership engagement?

Senior stakeholders at Osborne Clarke are very driven by the “OC for Good” agenda and have always championed the delivery of key programmes at the firm. As a result, the carbon travel budget initiative was also well received and discussed at great depth to ensure fairness, accuracy and accountability. Senior leadership was interested in understanding the data behind budgets, methodology for budget allocation, and ensuring that clear messaging was delivered to the firm. Osborne Clarke’s senior stakeholders have continued to provide their time and resources to understanding objectives and ensuring that they can play a role.

Have you faced any challenges? Had any pushback?

As expected with firm wide programmes, there is always feedback on how changes can be made to improve the delivery and/or outcomes. Similarly, the carbon travel budget receives feedback on messaging, target audience, and budget allocation from multiple stakeholders. In fact, Osborne Clarke welcomes the feedback and is very interested in the challenges presented. These present opportunities for innovation and developing different solutions.

What sort of travel has been reduced?

The primary travel targeted through the carbon travel budget programme is short-haul flights. These trips are generally 4-5x more carbon intensive than equivalent train journeys. A key measure for Osborne Clarke is to measure “avoided emissions” internally to identify travel that was replaced from air travel to rail travel in key Eurostar locations.

Will the reduction in travel help save costs?

While international train travel (travelling from London to Amsterdam/Brussels/Paris) is generally more expensive than budget flights, at Osborne Clarke the focus of the carbon travel budget remains around “smart” travel, i.e., travel with clear objectives and purpose. As a result, avoiding travel that is less important is likely to have an impact on both financial costs and emissions.

How did you ensure that the day-to-day efficacy of the business at Osborne Clarke is not adversely affected?

The carbon travel budget programme fits well with a suite of ongoing “OC for Good” initiatives that are focused on engaging employees and reporting impact. Day-to-day client and internal business activity is not adversely affected as individuals at Osborne Clarke have personal responsibility for their booking of travel as needed. They are trusted to make decisions that are beneficial for the firm’s financial and low-carbon interests.

Are your clients aware of the policy? What has the feedback been?

Osborne Clarke uses various engagements from its “OC for Good” framework in client communications. Many of Osborne Clarke’s clients require vendors/suppliers to set science based targets and evidence emission reductions. The carbon travel budget initiative plays a vital role in achieving these targets and reducing emissions in line with client expectations.

What advice would you give to another firm looking to roll out a similar campaign?

Take a case-by-case approach. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions in reducing travel emissions. Travel habits are almost entirely behavioural and driven by changes in the commercial environment. However, the principle of travelling with purpose and clarity should work as there is a financial saving that can be incurred (alongside emission savings) if firms avoid travel altogether. Ensuring that senior leadership is engaged and aware is vital as they can clear hurdles and improve ease of communication to various stakeholders.

Has the LSA Business Travel Guide been helpful?

Absolutely, the guide is very consistent with Osborne Clarke’s beliefs on travelling with purpose and clear requirements. The insight from the guide helps reiterate Osborne Clarke’s understanding of the wider UK-legal sector’s journey towards emissions reduction and provides a series of clear steps that many law firms can integrate into strategic planning and budget setting exercises.