Climate Action Programme Case Study: Clarke Willmott
In this case study Karen Higgins, Head of ESG at Clarke Willmott, talks about the firm’s net zero commitments and the work they are implementing internally to create a carbon literate and empowered staff team.
A legal firm who has been making strides with their environment work, they have a science-based target in place to be net zero by 2040, alongside interim targets of a 50% reduction in scope 1 and 2 by 2030, and a reduction of 25% in their scope 3 emissions by 2030. Due to their ongoing commitment to reducing their carbon emissions, we are thrilled to welcome them as a member of Bristol’s Climate Leaders Group.
Net Zero – a moral and business imperative
When we first started on our climate action journey the initial focus was creating a SBTi target. We decided to commit to reaching net zero primarily because it was the right thing to do. It also made business sense, demonstrating our commitment to the market, current and potential clients. In fact, over time it has become a business imperative, with our environmental credentials being asked for by clients in many of our tenders.
Alongside demonstrating our intentions, setting a science-based target gave us direction, and was essential for developing our carbon action plan, and identifying the first steps we needed to take.
Carbon Literacy training
Our current focus is on establishing internal staff training; to increase understanding of climate change and the impacts we can have on carbon emissions. This is a day’s worth of training that we put together in house so it’s relevant to our staff and sector, supported by the resources provided by the Carbon Literacy Project. Once attendees have finished the training, they make two pledges: an individual one which they have complete ownership over and a group one where they will work with others to create positive change. We monitor the progress of these pledges to measure impact.
Given that training isn’t mandatory, we have had an impressive sign-up rate across all our operational teams. Conducive to high sign-up was:
- Having senior staff members from each department attend the pilot training session. This a) demonstrated the importance of the training and b) after attending they encouraged their team to attend future training.
- Utilising pre-existing strong contacts across the departments, having previously held conversations about sustainability, which helped attract department heads.
Co-benefits
Not only does this support our environmental commitments, but it also improves our social value work. Externally, a third of the cost of the individual certifications goes towards supporting social groups and charities run their own literacy training. We are also providing social value to our clients, by offering carbon literacy training, supporting clients to strengthen internal capability and build momentum for climate action.
As a result of this work, we have gained the Bronze Level Carbon Literate Organisation status. This gives us credibility in this space and demonstrates our commitment to building a Carbon Literate workforce, ensuring that sustainable thinking is embedded across all areas of our work. To attain this status, we had to meet a set of criteria, such as having a Climate Literate organisational leader and implementing a system to track the training impacts.
A culture of sustainability
The training is part of our work to build a culture of sustainability, ensuring that environmental considerations are a central part of the conversation when making company-wide decisions.
Reviewing our property portfolio was key to reducing our emissions. In Bristol, moving into a new building resulted in our energy efficiency rating improving, using renewable electricity and going from an EPC rating of D to A, while also utilising the Bristol Heat Network. In Cardiff, choosing to relocate our office to the city centre made it easier for employees to catch public transport to work, reducing our scope 3 emissions.
We also integrate environmental considerations into how we work with clients, making sure our actions reflect our ambitions. For example, there have been instances where we have negotiated changing a meeting which would have required a lot of team travel from an in-person meeting to a remote one. Not travelling isn’t a hard rule, but through this training we hope to encourage the attitude that it’s okay to make requests that support our climate goals.
Working with the Partnership and becoming a Climate Leader
The Climate Action Programme has provided a space for us to learn from others and keep track of developments. For instance, we are part of the legal round table facilitated by the Partnership, where we come together to share challenges and explore how to overcome them. This opportunity to connect with other people of your seniority dealing with the same issues is invaluable.
We have joined as a Climate Leader partly to align with our values, but also to share our successes and experience to help others. As a market leading SBTi organisation, we hope our insights will be valuable. It also provides an opportunity to network and learn from others in different sectors, seeing issues from different angles and perspectives.
Top tips
- Work with the Carbon Literacy Project to shape internal training. It outlines a clear structure to base your training around, provides a wide range of resources and enables you to stay up to date with the latest climate news and policy information.
- Secure buy-in from senior management and have them attend the training. Not only will they influence other team members to attend, but their pledges will have the potential to have the biggest impact due to the level and scope of their work.
- Think about who is delivering the training. It’s essential to have well-trained facilitators who can make complex information engaging. Where possible make the sessions as interactive as possible.
- Make sure pledges are tailored to the individuals and their capabilities – for instance one attendee set their pledge to become a carbon literacy trainer.
Through our Climate Action Programme collaboration with the Bristol Business Improvement District, we’re keen to showcase climate progress and create more opportunities for businesses to learn from one another.
If you have an initiative or project we can shout about, please do get in touch with jasmine@bristolclimatenature.org
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