by Beth Salt | May 12, 2025 | Members News
Mills & Reeve announces significant investment in a long-term biodiversity partnership with Small Woods Association
Modern woodlands face numerous challenges, many of which have been introduced through human activity, including diseases, like ash dieback, and pests like deer. When managed, woodlands are vital to thriving local economies, wildlife, and the wellbeing of surrounding communities, as well as hugely valuable in the fight against climate change.
Small Woods is a charity funded through its membership, grants and corporate support, like that of Mills & Reeve’s. It is dedicated to promoting wildlife conservation in sites such as Edge Wood which is rich with ash, oak and hazel and hosts a variety of flora and fauna. At Edge Wood, biodiversity is enhanced through a traditional management technique known as coppicing, historically practiced on the site for hundreds of years. By cutting the hazel in cycles, a diverse suite of species associated with these woodlands is supported.
The impact of their work extends beyond environmental benefits, providing new opportunities for people in the community. Programmes like “Build a Bench”, a fully funded 12-week initiative offering weekly green wood craft sessions, help volunteers learn basic skills which are at risk of being lost, increases community activity and boosts wellbeing.
Watch project video.
Mills & Reeve’s support will further help to develop these woodlands. Their investment will help to fund a social forestry coordinator and cover transportation costs for participants to project sites, fencing around selected areas to protect plants from deer browsing, materials for a shelter and welfare facilities for volunteers, as well as providing tools and PPE where needed.
Jessica Wilkes-Ball, head of sustainability and net zero at Mills & Reeve, commented: “The impact of Small Woods’ work is evident. Our investment will help to expand these efforts, and underscores Mills & Reeve’s commitment to preserving biodiversity and supporting local communities. This is a project that not only gives back to the land but gives back to the people. We’re hearing stories about the impact that Small Woods is having, and we’re happy to be able to continue their work through this investment.”
Simon James, CEO of Small Woods Association, added: “This partnership with Mills & Reeve is a significant step forward in our mission to preserve and enhance the biodiversity of our woodlands. By combining our expertise in woodland management with Mills & Reeve’s commitment to sustainability, we can ensure that these vital ecosystems continue to thrive for generations to come. Together, we’re not only protecting the environment but also enriching the lives of the communities connected to these woodlands. This collaboration is a testament to the power of long-term, dedicated investment in nature’s recovery.”
About
This initiative is part of Mills & Reeve’s Achieving more for nature’s recovery programme, which aims to support Small Woods’ biodiversity activities and preserve woodlands for future generations.
This investment will fund:
- A social forestry co-ordinator for three days per week
- Materials for a shelter and composting toilet to be used by the volunteers
- Tools and PPE where needed
- Transportation costs for participants on project sites
- Fencing to keep out invasive species such as deer
- Bird and dormice boxes and refreshments
by Beth Salt | Feb 5, 2025 | Members News
Congratulations to Ashurst LLP who now have validated science-based targets. Ashurst commits to reduce absolute scope 1, 2 and business travel emissions by 42% by 2030 from a 2023 baseline year. Ashurst further commits that by 2029, 85% of its purchased goods and services emissions will come from suppliers that have set science-based targets.
This news follows publication of their inaugural Responsible Business Report in 2024.
by Beth Salt | Apr 8, 2024 | Members News
Specialist healthcare lawyer and LSA member Capsticks LLP has reached the next milestone on its sustainability journey by achieving ISO 14001: The international standard for environmental management.
“Our vision is to be the firm of choice for those that work to make a difference”, explains Chief Operating Officer Neil Middleton, “and where many of our clients – particularly in the public sector – have now aligned procurement with sustainability and have a clear net zero supplier roadmap which sets out how we need to align our aims with their own targets.”
Sustainability has been a key theme with law firms that typically look for independent certification to add both transparency and credibility to their commitments.
‘’We recognise that, as a business, we ourselves have a responsibility to make a difference and that’s at the heart of one of our foundational values, doing the right thing. A key part of this is having a Responsible Business strategy that includes environmental sustainability. Doing the right thing means ensuring we’re doing all we can to reduce our output of greenhouse gases through our infrastructure, processes and systems. That’s where ISO 14001 comes in and where we know that with some key changes, we can become a much greener, cleaner firm and in doing so play our part as a responsible business.”
Capsticks are located across five UK offices and Business Services Manager, Rosie Chahal, led the team that ensured ISO 14001 was integrated as part of the day to day business in each of the offices.
“We found that we already had many of the processes needed for environmental compliance but were able to build on and improve them. There were huge benefits to us in going through the process and it helped us make the most of the compliance data from energy, waste and refrigerant which will reduce the time taken to quantify our emissions” explains Rosie. “We ran awareness sessions for key members of staff and it certainly strengthened and helped develop the team, as well as being a really positive experience.”
by Beth Salt | Jan 29, 2024 | Members News
Travers Smith LLP have featured in
the Lawyer.com this month having reduced carbon emissions by over 10 tonnes CO2e in the first few months of implementing ISO 50001. They achieved this by carefully understanding how different elements of their building could be powered down and co-operating together on a plan for home working over the Christmas period. This achievement stands out. Comparable periods of low occupancy such as during the pandemic often produced only limited savings for law firms.
by Beth Salt | Nov 28, 2023 | Members News
For LSA members Travers Smith, a significant milestone was reached this month with the achievement of ISO 50001 – the international standard for energy management. For most Law firms, energy management is an important subject and almost the entire source of scope 1 & 2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
“Attaining ISO 50001 has been a significant achievement for us,” said Paul Mullis, Sustainability Officer at Travers Smith, “The achievement sets the foundation for continuous improvement and going forward, our commitment is not only to maintain this certification, but to continually improve our energy management and performance. With this understanding, we’ve been able to establish energy-saving campaigns and initiatives – directly reducing our Greenhouse Gas emissions”.
Careful management of energy use is known to have all sorts of benefits and has been at the centre of many LSA talking points over the years. The subject has again come to the fore in more recent times with energy costs more than doubling for many law firms, coupled with the drive to reduce scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions.
Paul is more than aware of the benefits to establishing a best practice methodology.
‘’Obtaining these certifications are not an end in themselves, rather, they are part of our broader strategy to implement sustainable practices and reduce our environmental footprint. We see these certifications as stepping stones to even greater sustainability achievements in the future.”
by Beth Salt | Nov 15, 2023 | LSA Insights, Members News
Sustainability, social justice, creating meaningful change – how do you accelerate progress within your firm on an international, national, business and individual level? How do you unify the strands of these vital agendas to encourage colleagues to break down silos and increase collaboration? Law firm Pinsent Masons found the answer lay with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (aka SDGs – sometimes also known as the ‘Global Goals’).
We spoke to Mike Harvey, Head of Responsible Business and Sharon Smith, Head of Learning & Knowledge for Climate & Sustainability at Pinsent Masons about how they harnessed the SDGs to inspire colleagues and clients to engage with their responsible business agenda. LSA member firm Pinsent Masons is a multinational law firm which specialises in the energy, infrastructure, financial services, real estate and technology, science & industry sectors.
Having signed up to the UN Global Compact, both Mike Harvey and Sharon Smith wanted to accelerate progress.
“We were both passionate about the SDGs and felt we should be doing more. The initial step was to raise awareness about SDGs – what we do as a firm, what our clients are doing and what we do as individuals.”
Sharon
The Sustainable Development Goals are 17 interlinked goals designed to serve as a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.” They are ambitious and radical. They act as a comprehensive pathway and were the first of their kind to achieve global consensus, a magnificent example of negotiation and perseverance, a multi-stakeholder engagement process involving governments, businesses, intergovernmental organisations and civil society. It helps that they come with recognisable visuals which are engaging and easy to use. In fact the simple graphics are quickly becoming iconic.
“The SDGs are a useful framework to talk to our clients and suppliers – a common language that we all work to and a tool to build deeper relationships.”
Mike
“With things that are going on in the world it can feel like ‘it’s out of my control’. The SDGs can help people feel empowered. They can help people find purpose and meaning in what they are doing. It can help to build morale and a sense of community.”
Sharon
Each of the SDGs represents a complex but important area. The team ran an internal survey asking, amongst other things, what is your awareness of the SDGs? Awareness was low, but they sensed there was an appetite to find out more. Mike and Sharon decided that the key to building an enduring and resilient campaign was to spend a month on each SDG, but not to be limited by this schedule. If one SDG remained relevant for longer, because of an international event or diary date, then the schedule would facilitate that.
Certain SDGs seemed to fit certain times of the year – for example SDG 2 – Zero Hunger was scheduled to coincide with Christmas and incorporated the work that they were already doing with food banks and schools. SDG 14 – Life Below Water, fitted in with Plastic Free July and SDG 13 – Climate Action ran alongside the UNFCCC COP.
An SDG Working Group including Mike, Sharon and members from the firm’s Spark Board and Responsible Business team was set up to work on campaign actions, and SDG Champions, including senior partners and managers at the firm, volunteered to champion specific SDGs. They used MS Viva Engage to share internal communications, including YouTube video explainers to engage with colleagues.
The team set KPIs to measure impact, the key one being – would individuals in the firm start talking about the SDGs independently of the campaign? Monitoring social media and internal comms they soon realised this was happening. That was a moment of celebration! The campaign, which both admit was a learning process, had evolved into a grassroots movement.
“We decided it would be a slow burn – a longer process. We wanted to combine the SDG campaign with other initiatives so they all joined up. We didn’t want this to be just another campaign.”
Mike
The campaign kicked off by using the SDGs as an umbrella to unite responsible business activities and raise awareness, but the team soon found that the framework was highlighting areas in which they could do more, which in turn inspired them to engage internationally and find commonalities so they could take action to plug those gaps.
Highlights of the campaign saw the London office being lit up in the colours of the SDGs and SDG icons, (including on flags, pin badges and visual media) being placed around the firm, generating conversations and galvanising action. The campaign engendered a feeling throughout the firm that they were moving forward as one.
Crown Place lit up in the colours of the SDGs
We asked Sharon and Mike what advice they would offer to a firm considering using the SDGs to amplify and consolidate their ESG activity.
“Just start! It can feel so big and overwhelming. The best thing to do is just start.”
Mike
“I agree with Mike. Try and find which SDGs resonate with people in your firm and just start!”
Sharon
The campaign has been such a success that Pinsent Masons are planning to keep it rolling, revisiting a new SDG each month, given the constantly changing nature of the ESG landscape and the appetite within the firm to evolve with it.
If you have a sustainability success story to share with us please email [email protected].
