LSA Climate Heroes – Winner
Meet one of the LSA Climate Heroes of 2026 -2027. A group of inspiring individuals whose leadership, innovation and determination are driving meaningful climate and sustainability action across the legal sector. We are excited to be highlighting their work.
Louise Starling
Senior Responsible Business Manager
CMS
Louise’s approach of connecting community work with the firm’s own objectives and learning demonstrates the kind of creative and joined-up thinking that is needed to tackle complex issues such as the climate and biodiversity crisis. She has created her own ecosystem for change which is clearly delivering results.
LSA Co-Chairs:
Becky Clissmann, Global Sustainability Expertise Counsel, Ashurst Perkins Coie
Paddy Linighan, Chief Sustainability Officer, Clyde & Co LLP
Louise has played a central role in embedding biodiversity into CMS’s Responsible Business strategy, developing and scaling its bees and biodiversity programme from the ground up since 2022. What began as a single UK initiative has grown into an international programme spanning 16 CMS locations, including London, Oman, Beijing, Budapest and Edinburgh.
Her leadership goes far beyond introducing beehives. Recognising the complexity of urban ecosystems, Louise has ensured the programme takes a broader approach to biodiversity, raising awareness of the importance of diverse pollinator species and habitat protection. Through initiatives including the CMS Bee Team, colleague participation and hands-on learning, she has engaged employees and clients in practical climate and nature action, making sustainability visible and accessible across the firm.
Louise has also extended the programme’s impact beyond the workplace, using it as a platform for education, collaboration and community engagement. Through partnerships with organisations including Young Citizens, Pollinating London Together and Stepney City Farm, she has helped create award-winning resources, citizen science opportunities and hands-on biodiversity education programmes that engage colleagues, young people and local communities. She has also linked the programme to wider conservation outcomes through fundraising initiatives such as CMS honey sales, ensuring the benefits extend beyond CMS itself.
Through these initiatives, Louise has delivered tangible environmental, cultural and educational impact. She has enhanced biodiversity around CMS offices, connected colleagues to citizen science through activities such as the Annual Pollinator Count, and built partnerships that extend well beyond the firm. Most importantly, she has demonstrated how a law firm can take meaningful action on biodiversity while engaging people and communities at scale, creating a platform for wider influence and nature-positive change.