Environmental responsibility has been part of the way Osborne Clarke does business for over two decades.
We were one of the founding members of the Legal Sustainability Alliance, working collaboratively with other law firms to engage in the public narrative on climate change and to develop, apply and promote best practice across the sector. We have been auditing and reporting our Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions for several years, which has led to investment in our buildings and significant reductions in energy consumption and associated emissions. All three of our UK offices use electricity supplied from 100% renewable power supply certificates.
The need to act in response to climate science continues to become more urgent
The need to act in response to climate science continues to become more urgent. The latest reports from the IPCC show we are dangerously close to the threshold that would take us over 1.5°C of warming, above pre-industrial levels. Osborne Clarke was a signatory to the We Mean Business Coalition's open letter calling on G20 Leaders to keep 1.5°C in sight, and commit to pathways consistent with at least halving global emissions by 2030, and avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.
Osborne Clarke UK is the first of our international businesses to make its own commitment to company-wide emission reductions in line with climate science with the Science Based Targets initiative. Our near-term target, to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030, was approved by our Executive Board in March 2022 and has been submitted to the SBTi for validation. We have also made a public commitment to setting a long-term net-zero target in the next 24 months, and we are members of the Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign.
