October 2019
I’ve never really thought of myself as much of a rebel, so why on earth did I find myself, dressed in my best suit after a meeting in the City, sitting in the middle of the road at Trafalgar Square? Read more
September 2019
Millions of people around the world held a global climate strike on Friday, inspired by activist Greta Thunberg. Protesters across continents waved placards and chanted slogans in what could be the biggest ever demonstration over global warming caused by humans. "Our house is on fire", Ms Thunberg said at a rally. "We will not just stand aside and watch." Read more
September 2019
Proposed legislation in California would commit to 75% reduction in plastic waste by 2030, and phase out most single-use packaging. The most ambitious US legislation to tackle the scourge of plastic pollution choking up oceans and piling up in landfills could pass in California Friday – or end up in the dustbin of history. Lawmakers are likely to vote on proposals that aim to phase out most single-use plastic packaging within the next decade. Read more
September 2019
The UK has won the bid to host the 26th Conference of the Parties, known as COP26, following a partnership with Italy.Up to 30,000 delegates are expected to attend the event at Glasgow's Scottish Events Campus (SEC) at the end of next year.It is designed to produce an international response to the climate emergency. Read more
September 2019
Lawyers from ClientEarth are putting 100 local authorities across England on notice, warning them that they will violate their legal obligations and risk legal challenge if they do not introduce proper climate change plans. Environmental lawyers from ClientEarth's London office are writing to each local authority that is currently developing a new local plan, giving them eight weeks to explain how they will set evidence-based carbon reduction targets and ensure these targets are then central to their new planning policy. Read more
June 2019
At the recent ACC Global GC Summit, HRH Prince Charles added to the evening’s theme of ‘Sustainability and the Role of the GC‘ by encouraging its members to ‘do more’ for Climate Change. Addressing the guests via an 8min video message he said the General Council were ‘uniquely placed to coordinate their organisation’s response’. Many […] Read more
January 2019
IMPORTANT NEWS FOR LSA MEMBERS As highlighted in our Christmas eNewsletter (available here) the LSA has decided in 2019 to discontinue the use of the LSA Carbon Reporting Tool and, instead, invite LSA member firms to provide us with their total carbon footprint - however calculated - which we can share for comparison. This will allow us to apply more of our resources to the wider question of how LSA members can use their collective clout to help meet the priority Global Goals (of which Goal 13 - Climate Action - is a key one). Read more
December 2018
Be ready for SECR in April 2019 - essential guide to the obligations in the Member Area. See box on this page for further details. Read more
November 2018
Our Pre-Christmas 2018 Update is available to view here. Please the link at the bottom of this page to subscribe to ensure you don't miss out. Read more
October 2018
The latest IPCC Report on global warming of 1.5°C is one of the most important climate reports ever published. Limiting temperature increase requires unprecedented changes in society, but will have huge benefits. Every half a degree of warming matters. The work of the Legal Sustainability Alliance in encouraging and supporting all law firms to play their part is even more important as we get closer and closer to seeing the irreversible effects of man made global warming. Read more
October 2018
24 Sept saw the launch of the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) to help businesses measure progress against the UN Sustainable Development Goals (aka the Global Goals). In their press release, Aviva, Index Initiative and the United Nations Foundation announce the launch of the WBA with an aim of developing free, publicly available benchmarks which will rank companies on their contributions to achieving the Global Goals. Read more
September 2018
GreenBiz has recently released its 2018 report into the state of the sustainability profession. According to GreenBiz, it’s "chock full of good data on budgets, team sizes and salaries, as well as major themes around reporting, renewables and leveraging sustainability to create new business opportunities". The report highlights how the sustainability profession has evolved over the past 10 years with more companies reporting progress in this area. Read more
August 2018
A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that there is a risk of Earth entering “Hothouse Earth” conditions where the climate in the long term will stabilize at a global average of 4-5°C higher than pre-industrial temperatures and sea level 10-60 m higher than today. The report highlights that, even if the carbon emission reductions called for in the Paris Agreement are met, there is a risk of Earth entering what the scientists call “Hothouse Earth” conditions. Read more
July 2018
The National Grid has published its latest Future Energy Scenario (FES) documents, including a "FES in Five Minutes" summary which stimulates debate and helps inform the decisions that will shape our energy future. These issues have never been more important – especially when you consider the extent to which the energy landscape is being transformed. Read more
June 2018
Out now! The LSA Annual Report 2018 is now available to download (see menu item). As well as LSA highlights for the past year, this year's report contains a summary of the carbon footprint results of a record 59 reporting firms. The Annex to the report contains the individual footprints of each reporting firm. An exclusive detailed benchmark report, showing a comparison of each firm's performance in each aspect of the carbon footprint, will be available to LSA members from 18 June. Read more
