Simmons' green light for environmental law

If you go hiking in a pristine Norwegian forest in the not too distant future, you might be surprised to discover that it was put there by none other than Simmons & Simmons, which has today proudly proclaimed itself to be the world’s first carbon-neutral law firm.

In fact, Simmons is yet to decide precisely how it is going to mitigate the environmental damage caused by its carbon emissions. But it has calculated how much money it must spend in order to neutralise the damage it is causing the planet. It amounts to £114,000 a year.

In the next few days managing partner Mark Dawkins will get together with senior colleagues to decide what to spend the money on. ‘Forest sequestration’ is on the agenda, as are energy efficiency initiatives in developing countries that reduce the amount of wood that is burnt for fuel.

“I cannot pretend that I have been at the forefront of this at Simmons,” says Dawkins, “but it is something I have become more and more interested in.”

To win its carbon-neutral status the firm enlisted the support of The CarbonNeutral Company, which conducted an audit of Simmons' emissions. While 80% of the firm’s emissions are accounted for by direct energy use, 13% is down to air travel. Simmons has committed itself to reducing energy and other natural resource consumption by 7.5% by April 2007. The simple expedient of turning off computers and lights can make a difference, but the firm is also investing in video conferencing facilities in order to cut down the amount of air travel.

While Dawkins concedes it is easy to be cynical about such matters, he points out that the firm acted because of pressure from staff members. And he says some clients do ask the firm about its environmental policy.

Another firm to have taken steps to improve its green credentials is Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which earlier this year became the first firm to publish a corporate social responsibility report. It shows that for some reason the firm is an extravagant consumer of water. Perhaps it should re-introduce the historic City practice of having long liquid lunches…down the pub.