Power Hungry: the Climate-Cost Benefit of AI

In this episode, Sophia Adams Bhatti is joined by Bhargav Srinivasa Desikan for a deep dive into the carbon cost of AI—from the energy demands of large models to the hidden environmental impacts of everyday digital tools. Bhargav unpacks the origins of AI, what organisations can do to reduce their digital footprint, the innovations and policy that could make AI more sustainable and what law firms in particular need to understand as they adopt these technologies. An essential conversation for anyone navigating the future of AI in a responsible law firm.

The Socially Imaginative Lawyer

For this special episode Amanda Carpenter returns to the studio to talk to Wangui Kaniaru, Partner at ALN, Kenya. Early on in her career, Wangui was told that rather than justice, law is about trade-offs, incentives and outcomes. Realising that this is a mischaracterisation of the role law can play, Wangui put her head above the parapet to ask questions about climate justice and the role of lawyers and rule of law in a society facing the devastating impacts of the climate crisis.

How can questions of justice serve your clients and lead to more innovative, creative, and durable outcomes? Amanda and Wangui reflect on how to be a thoughtful lawyer, the implications of the ICJ ruling and nurturing hope for future generations.

Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are – St Augustine of Hippo

The Purpose Brief

We spoke to Debra Sobel, founder of ‘The Purpose Hub’, to take a deep dive into ‘purpose’ and its evolving role in a responsible business. What is purpose in a corporate environment? Why is purpose relevant today? How do we articulate purpose to drive responsible growth and profitability, impact and behaviour change? Including advice on how to be purposeful, how to avoid greenwashing and how to protect yourself from ‘ESG whiplash’. This episode is hosted by Sophia Adams Bhatti.

The Elephants on the Horizon

Exploring the major trends set to shape the legal landscape

AI, climate change, geopolitics, the rule of law – the landscape of lawyering is changing. Amanda Carpenter and Sophia Adams Bhatti, public policy expert with over 20 years’ experience working across law, financial services, tech, consumer affairs, healthcare, and immigration and asylum, explore the ‘elephants on the horizon’ for law firms and how individuals can have an impact. Also, in this episode Amanda hands the mic over to Sophia, who is adding her voice as new host of the Sustainable Law Podcast.

The Changing Face of Sustainability

What does the future hold for law firms? How can legal professionals navigate the rapidly evolving world of ESG? We talked to the outgoing and incoming co-chairs of the Legal Sustainability Alliance, the biggest sustainability network in the UK’s legal sector about the network and the evolving landscape in which it operates. From pushback on ESG to developing client expectations, mitigating climate risk to regulatory requirements, we explore what has changed for law firms over the last decade and what the is coming on the horizon. With Paddy Linighan, Chief Sustainability Officer at Clyde & Co, Caroline May, Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, Becky Clissmann, Counsel at Ashurst and Matt Sparkes, Sustainability Director at Linklaters.

Matt Sparkes

Honorary President LSA and Sustainability Director, Linklaters

Matt leads Linklaters’ work on responsible business globally, ensuring that the firm’s own ESG performance reflects all stakeholder expectations and the advice provided to clients on many related themes.

Matt is active in a range of sustainability networks including as EMEA Chair of Business for Societal Impact and as co-chair of the Legal Sustainability Alliance. He is also a Board Member and Trustee of the UNGC-UK Network, is vice-chair of the Living Wage Foundation and, in his spare time, was until recently proud to act as chair of an East London employability charity.

Paddy Linighan

Co-chair LSA and Chief Sustainability Officer, Clyde & Co

Paddy is an experienced and skilled operations and finance professional, with over 35 years’ experience of operational and financial control, defining strategy and managing major business transformation programmes for large global organisations in the Legal Services sector.

Since 2020, initially in his role as Chief Operating Officer, he has led the development of Clyde & Co’s Environmental Social & Governance Strategy which has seen their strategic positioning leapfrog from being an approach which was precautionary to one which is ambitious and market leading.

Paddy was appointed the Firm’s first Chief Sustainability Officer in 2023. In addition to being a member of the ICAEW, he is an alumnus of Oxford Said Business School’s Scenarios Programme, an IEMA Associate and is recognised as an ESG Ambassador.

An Insider’s Guide to…. CSRD

In this episode of the Sustainable Law Podcast we unpack the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and its implications for law firms. As the EU’s ambitious ESG reporting framework reshapes compliance landscapes, we explore how law firms can support clients in navigating these changes and address the needs of their own practices. Join us for expert insights, practical advice and strategies to stay ahead.

With Rebecca Ward, Sustainability Strategist at Radley Yeldar, who has experience delivering CSRD-aligned double materiality assessments, as well as providing strategic advice on CSRD reports for organisations that will fall in scope of the first wave of CSRD reporting, and Maria Mana, a Sustainability Project Manager at Linklaters, who has over 15 years’ experience delivering projects and programmes and is currently laying the groundwork for Linklaters’ upcoming CSRD disclosures.

Rebecca Ward

Rebecca is a Sustainability Strategist at Radley Yeldar (RY). Her role involves guiding and advising businesses on sustainability communications and strategy. With her clients, Rebecca has experience delivering CSRD-aligned double materiality assessments, as well as providing strategic advice on CSRD reports for organisations that will fall in scope of the first wave of CSRD reporting. Her personal superpower is translating complicated concepts into digestible information – whether that means explaining the theory of double materiality through a football analogy or untangling a complex value chain to tell a compelling sustainability story.