Environmental Sustainability

Science-Based Target progress: Between 2019/20 and 2020/21, we reduced greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) equivalent, reported in tCO₂e, as follows:

• Scope 1 & 2 by 14.9%, and

• Scope 3 by 37.2%.

These overall reductions included a 10.8% increase in natural gas emissions, a 26.4% decrease in electricity emissions, and a 96.8% decrease in business travel emissions.

In 2021, 74% of electricity was sourced from a 100% renewable supply and we aim to increase renewable energy purchasing where possible in our offices.

Long-term progress: Between 2009/10 and 2019/20, we reduced greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) equivalent, reported in tCO₂e, by 46% across scopes 1, 2 & 3. This includes reductions arising from electricity (39%), water use (27%), business travel (23%), paper use (48.5%) and waste generation (36%).

More specific environment performance and GHG data is available below.

In 2017 we offset our scope 1, 2 and selected scope 3 GHG emissions¹ including business travel through the Gyapa cook stove project and between 2018 and April 2022 through the Gola Rainforest Conservation Project in Sierra Leone.

The Gola Project protects over 140,000 hectares of rare rainforest with numerous endangered wildlife species, by creating a National Park to protect the habitat for 327 bird species, 650 endemic plant species, and 49 species of larger mammals. This, in turn, supports local communities through education and sustainable agriculture within a buffer zone surrounding the Park.

 

¹ Emissions are offset from all scope 1 (e.g. gas use, refrigerant losses), scope 2 (i.e. purchased electricity which is not 100% renewable sourced) and  the following scope 3 emission sources; water, waste, paper, hotel stays and business travel including plane, train and taxi journeys.

The sustainability of our buildings matters to us. We have leading environmental certifications across our offices and are working to enhance the health and wellbeing credentials of our sites too. Examples include:

• a LEED platinum (and DGNB gold) in Frankfurt, Dubai and Jakarta (from October 2022); LEED silver in New York and Stockholm

• a ‘Class A’ building in Milan, an A-label building in Amsterdam and a BCA Green Mark Scheme building in Singapore

• from 2026 our new headquarters will be in 20 Ropemaker, London which is designed to be a minimum BREEAM (Shell and Core) ‘Outstanding’ rated and WELL certified building. We have instructed our fit-out design team to achieve the highest BREEAM and WELL certificates for the fit-out design and are on target to achieve these.

Our Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) team has a robust understanding of the regulatory and policy drivers of the market and experience across a wide range of sectors and contexts. We take a holistic approach, covering a wide range of areas - from climate change and resource efficiency, human rights and community engagement, antibribery and corruption, transparency and disclosure, product governance, and risk management more generally.

The following firmwide GHG emissions, performance data and verification statement are true to the end of FY21 (April 2021).

From our refreshed FY19 market-based baseline, calculated in line with the SBTi methodology, our carbon emission performance over the past three years is as follows. Please note that many of the changes are influenced by Covid-19 restrictions and different ways of working. Only scope 3 emission categories relevant to Linklaters are shown.

 Linklaters Greenhouse Gas Emissions Statement

Firmwide	Carbon Emissions	Units	20191	20202	FY213
	Company Vehicles	tCO2e	58	63	45
	Fugitive Emissions	tCO2e	176	62	65
	On-Site Combustion	tCO2e	1,315	1,347	1,499
Scope 1 sub-total	Scope 1 subtotal	tCO2e	1,549	1,471	1,610
	Electricity (market-based)	tCO2e	3,696	2,751	1,835
	Electricity  (location-based)	tCO2e	7,583	6,726	4,866
	Direct Heating & Cooling	tCO2e	412	358	454
Scope 2 sub-total	Scope 2 subtotal	tCO2e	4,108	3,109	2,289
	Purchased Goods & Services	tCO2e	47,897	38,231	27,687
	Capital Goods	tCO2e	8,796	12,367	10,274
	Fuel and energy related activities	tCO2e	2,060	1,760	1,328
	Upstream transportation and distribution	tCO2e	760	220	150
	Waste generated in operations	tCO2e	61	127	28
	Business Travel	tCO2e	22,827	13,921	442
	Employee commuting & working from home	tCO2e	1,576	1,919	2,958
	Downstream leased assets	tCO2e	15	11	2
	Investments	tCO2e	1	0.2	0.2
Scope 3 sub-total	Scope 3 subtotal	tCO2e	83,993	68,556	42,869
Total emissions (market based) Scope 1, 2 and 3	Total emissions (market based) Scope 1,2, and 3	tCO2e	89,650	73,136	46,768
Total emissions (location based) Scope 1, 2 and 3	Total emissions (location based) Scope 1, 2 and 3	tCO2e	93,537	77,111	49,799
Total emissions intensity (FTE headcount market based)	Total emissions intensity (FTE headcount market based)	tCO2e	13.6	11.1	7.2
Total emissions intensity (FTE headcount location based)	Total emissions intensity (FTE headcount location based)	tCO2e	14.2	11.7	7.7

1FY2019 scope 1, 2 & 3 data limited verification in accordance with the requirements of ISO 14064 – part 3 standard.
2FY2020 scope 1, 2 & 3 data limited verification in accordance with the requirements of ISO 14064 – part 3 standard.
³FY2021 scope 1, 2 & 3 data limited verification in accordance with the requirements of ISO 14064 – part 3 standard.

In addition, all scope 1 & 2 UK data has been verified to reasonable assurance in accordance with the requirements of ISO 14064 - part 3 standard for SECR requirements purposes.

The 2021 Greenhouse Gas Assurance Statement is here.

Environmental Performance

Firmwide		Units	2019	2020	2021
Energy	Electricity	Million kWh	23.4	21.9	17.4
	Renewable Tariff	Percentage	73	71	74
	Other1	Million kWh	9.3	9.3	10.7
Procurement	Purchased Goods & Services	£ spent (millions)	169.1	136.9	110.5
	Capital Goods	£ spent (millions)	22.6	30.8	25.2
Waste Disposal	All waste2	Tonnes	1,633	1,573	548
	Recycling	Percentage	75	72	79
Business Travel	Air	Million Km	71.5	51.9	1.6
	Road	Million Km	1.1	1.2	0.5
	Rail	Million Km	2.8	4	0.3
Employee Commuting & Working from Home	Employee Commuting	Million Km	6.8	22.4	0.04
	Working from Home	Million kWh	-	-	13.2
Upstream Leased Assets	Electricity	Million kWh	0.01	0.01	0.009
Downstream Leased Assets	Electricity	Million kWh	2.8	2.7	1.9
Investments	Investments	£ invested (millions)	0.7	0.7	0.7

Resource Use		Units	2019	2020	2021
	Paper	A4 Reams	153,895	106,801	39,597
	Water	m3	73,686	70,232	29,260

1Includes gas, district heating and cooling.
2This includes over 10 different types of waste streams, based on a combination of weighed and estimated waste data.