Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has won the Sustainable Business of Law award at the FT Innovative Lawyer Awards Europe 2022 for its approach to ESG and its Climate and Sustainability group.
The firm’s work implementing net zero 2040 targets, including cuts to energy use via innovative demand side response technology, the introduction of travel carbon budgets and empowering its people to take ownership and responsibility for their own carbon footprint were highlighted by the judges.
Pinsent Masons was shortlisted in seven categories in this year’s awards in Diversity and Inclusion, Managing Complexity, Adjacent Services, Innovative Practitioner, Individual Changemaker, Adjacent Services and Long-term Strategies for Success. The firm achieved an overall ranking 12th.
Partner and Head of Climate & Sustainability at Pinsent Masons, Michael Watson, said: “We’re proud of the work we have done to devise creative and innovative solutions which enable us to contribute to global net zero targets and to empower everyone across our business to contribute.
“Education and engagement are vital if we are to drive meaningful change. By supporting our people in understanding what steps they can take personally and how they can support their clients in their journey, we are better equipped as a business to shift the dial in ESG. It’s only through distributed action firm-wide that we can effect the changes needed for clients and our business.
“Critically we have accelerated the development of multidisciplinary products and services for clients that help them address the challenges and opportunities presented by climate and wider sustainability issues.”
In recent years the firm has unveiled a number of measures designed to help address climate change. Last year the firm launched the One Million Hours Pledge which seeks to collaborate and pool time across the legal sector to support projects tackling climate change and reducing biodiversity loss.
To advance the aim of building a business of climate and sustainability conscious colleagues, the firm partnered with the University of Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment to deliver the Climate and Sustainability Accelerator Programme. The programme saw the roll out of 12 one-hour webinars, open to everyone at Pinsent Masons globally, covering topics such as science, corporate governance and how law shapes net zero.
Earlier this year the firm’s 2040 net zero targets received official validation from the Science-based Targets Initiative, the leading independent climate change body, creating a roadmap for progress.