Linklaters takes climate action with new carbon reduction targets

Linklaters has announced sector-leading carbon reduction targets, committing to reduce its ‘Scope 1&2’ emissions (primarily energy) by 70% by 2030 and ‘Scope 3’ emissions (primarily purchased goods/services and travel) by 50%, again by 2030.

The firm’s new targets are grounded in climate science and approved by the Science Based Targets initiative, a collaboration between CDP, World Resources Institute, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the United Nations Global Compact, supporting the Paris Agreement on climate change, aiming to limit global warming to 1.5 Celsius.

Matt Sparkes, Global Head of Sustainability at Linklaters and Co-Chair of the Legal Sustainability Alliance, comments:

“Responsibility and sustainability are at the heart of how we operate as a business and it is important that we are accountable to this commitment. Our new science-based targets will underpin our climate ambition and action as we continue to identify new and innovative ways to reduce our emissions, including embracing learnings from the Covid-19 pandemic and shifts in behaviour. We believe that these represent leading targets for the sector and reflect our continued leadership in environmental management – both in operations and client service.

We know that there is much more to be done on a global scale and we are fully committed to playing our part in reducing the impact of climate change and driving sustainable growth.”

Linklaters has a longstanding commitment to environmental sustainability and achieved a CDP Climate Change ‘Leadership’ score of A- in 2020 for its carbon management efforts for the fourth year in a row, the highest score a global law firm has achieved to date. Linklaters is the only law firm to have consistently disclosed its firmwide greenhouse gas emissions as CDP supply chain responders since 2012. The firm is also one of only two international law firms to hold an ISO14001 environmental management standard globally.

Read more about the firm’s approach to environmental sustainability here.