Happy New Year! Although the joys of the festive break may already feel like a distant memory, we wish you a healthy and happy start to 2025.
The LSA is here to support you as you make progress with your climate action goals. If you have challenges or successes that could benefit from or inspire our network, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Bulletin highlights include:
- Takeaways from our event with executive firms exploring climate change transition plans
- A blog on sustainability trends affecting the sector in 2025
- The launch of a Grantham Institute report profiling emerging examples of just transition financing across public, private and blended solutions
- A call to join LSA working groups
- Information about an LSA sponsored place on the one-day in person workshop ‘Climate Adaptation for Legal Practitioners’
- News from LSA members
- LSA schedule of events with registration links
- Sustainability dates for your diary for 2025
Please encourage everyone to sign up to receive their own copy of this bulletin here. |
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Climate Change Transition Plans: Emerging Trends in Regulation and Finance
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This LSA event for executive member firms was a great success, with nearly 50 colleagues enjoying a session on transition planning, followed by lunch. Huge thanks to our speakers; Thomas Hale, Emma Lecavalier, Ashleigh Lee and Ira Poensgen, for their valuable and interesting contribution. Thanks also to Caroline May of Norton Rose Fulbright for chairing the discussion and to Sarah Hickey and Paul Davies at Latham & Watkins for generously hosting the event.
Click below to read the speakers' key takeaways. |
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Tracking sustainability trends in 2025
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From collaborations to climate litigation, biodiversity to climate conscious pro bono - we asked our consultant colleagues to predict what trends might affect law firms committed to sustainability in 2025. |
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Join the Grantham Institute and the Institute for Human Rights and Business for the launch of a joint report which profiles emerging examples of just transition financing across public, private, and blended solutions.
The discussion will also reflect on the COP29 climate conference outcomes, where the links between the need for breakthrough financial innovations and the delivery of just, equitable, and inclusive climate action became even clearer.
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New Working Groups for 2025:
A call for members |
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To support LSA members tackle the complexities and challenges of reporting and regulatory frameworks we are launching three new LSA working groups:
CSRD - Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive What are the key issues for law firms and their clients? Where and how do you start? What does it mean for law firms? How can you learn from others' experience? Nature and Biodiversity in Your Supply Chain How can you measure and account for the impact of your supply chain on nature? How can you develop a strategy for nature and biodiversity? Getting to Grips with Carbon Emissions How to get started with measuring you carbon emissions? What should you measure? Including looking at developing proxies and managing first steps. This group will also explore if any shared ‘universal’ data could be available for LSA members to use – and collate a register.
If you are interested in being part of one of these groups, please contact Camilla on manager@legalsustainabilityalliance.com or click the link below.
The groups run on Chatham House rules and allow member firms to share knowledge, experience and ideas freely. Where appropriate they will generate resources and/or toolkits to share with other member firms. These groups are managed by the secretariat team. They mainly meet online, but on occasion will get together in person. They are chaired by an external subject expert, but rely on LSA members to volunteer to be part of the working group. |
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Upskilling: Climate Adaption for Legal Practitioners |
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Black Mountains College and Legal Charter 1.5 invite you to a one-day in person workshop ‘Climate Adaptation for Legal Practitioners’ on Thursday 6th February, 9am - 5pm. Tickets are £550.
This training is designed to help you identify how you can use your occupational skills and position to take effective climate action. Places are limited. Please find out more and register for this event by following the link below.
The LSA is sponsoring one place on this course for a lawyer working in an LSA member firm, especially those who are working with clients in any of the following sectors: transport, infrastructure, manufacturing, energy, pharmaceuticals, FMCG, finance, local and national government, health, social care, construction, mining, shipping, IT & tech, AI. Please send an email to manager@legalsustainabilityalliance.com detailing why you believe you should be selected for this opportunity. |
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The Sustainable Law Podcast
An Insider’s Guide to… CSRD
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Counting Your Carbon: The Basics
12.30pm, 21st January 2025 Bring your questions along for this interactive session on getting started with carbon counting and target setting. Expert Jim Haywood will offer clear and practical advice on how to understand and track your environmental impact, explore what factors contribute to your footprint, how to get the data you need to measure them and clever ways to fill gaps when you don't have all of the information. And how can the LSA’s free Carbon Calculator help? |
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| | Herbert Smith Freehills share a useful summary designed to help you navigate ESG Disclosure Requirements in 2025. |
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| | RWK Goodman's new 'Digital First’ approach offers digital business cards made from recyclable material that allow colleagues to transfer their contact details directly onto any smartphone, with a simple tap. |
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| | Burges Salmon advised Denmark-headquartered European Energy on the divestment of three UK solar parks with an expected combined annual output of more than 120 GWh, equivalent to the energy consumption of over 30,000 European households. |
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Please get in touch with your stories so we can feature them here. |
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Upcoming Events and Webinars
Please click the links to find out more and register, we look forward to seeing you! |
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| | Counting Your Carbon: The Basics
12.30pm, 21st January 2025 Bring your questions along for this interactive session on getting started with carbon counting and target setting. Expert Jim Haywood will offer clear and practical advice on how to understand and track your environmental impact, explore what factors contribute to your footprint, how to get the data you need to measure them and clever ways to fill gaps when you don't have all of the information. And how can the LSA’s free Carbon Calculator help? |
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| | Navigating CSRD: A Guide for Law Firms
12.30pm, 27th February 2025
Whether you're working towards compliance with CSRD, supporting clients on their journey, or taking inspiration from the best parts of the directive to uplift internal standards, CSRD shouldn’t be tackled alone. Join experts Louise Ayling and Rebecca Ward, from sustainability-focused communications and strategy agency Radley Yeldar, who will guide us through all things CSRD and answer your questions. |
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Sustainability Dates for Your Diary |
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This isn't a comprehensive list, but these are the dates that have caught our attention:
Veganuary – 1 - 31 January
Try going vegan for a month and reduce your carbon impact while you are at it! Big Garden Birdwatch 2025 - 24 - 26 January
Encourage all to register and join the hundreds of thousands of people who spend an hour watching the birds in gardens, from balconies or in local parks, and reporting what they've seen, contributing to valuable data for the RSPB. World Wetlands Day - 2 February Nearly 90% of the world’s wetlands have been degraded since the 1700s. Take part in World Wetlands Day to raise awareness about the vital role wetlands play as critically important ecosystems that contribute to biodiversity, climate mitigation and adaptation, freshwater availability, world economies and more. Helpful resources on the website. World Wildlife Day – 3rd March This is a United Nations International day to celebrate wildlife and plants around the globe. The theme for 2025 is Wildlife Conservation Finance: Investing in People and Planet. The date was specifically chosen to cite the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which was signed in 1973. World Water Day - 22 March
World Water Day is about taking action to tackle the global water crisis. A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030. The Great British Spring Clean – 21st March – 6th April
The Great British Spring Clean is the nation’s biggest mass-action environmental campaign. Keep Britain Tidy calls on us to pick up the litter, some of it decades old, which is causing harm to our environment; releasing greenhouse gases as it slowly breaks down in our soil and water, contributing to the climate crisis. Litter picking is a simple act that makes an immediate and visible difference to the places where we live, work and play. In 2024 400,000 bags of litter were collected by Keep Britain Tidy's #LitterHeroes. |
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Greece comes face-to-face with the consequences of climate change every year. In this interview with Maria Nefeli Bernitsa, Partner at member firm Bernitsas Law, we explored climate-conscious lawyering on the frontline of the climate crisis. |
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Watch any of the four recent Green Brief events via the resource library on our website.
- 'The How, Why and When of Regulatory Frameworks' with sustainability consultant Stan Rayfield
- 'Outcomes and Impacts – Takeaways from COP 29' with Emma Lecavalier, Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Net Zero Regulation and Policy Hub
- 'Labour’s 100 Days - What does it mean for policy?' with Karla Hill of E3G and Sophia Adams Bhatti
- 'The Global Goals in Action' with Matt Sparkes, Sustainability Director at Linklaters and Mike Harvey, Head of Responsible Business at Pinsent Masons
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