The Institute of Legal Finance and Management (ILFM) is creating a low carbon community for its law firm members, thanks to a new partnership with Manchester’s CBN Expert, a firm dedicated to supporting businesses transition to low carbon.
The Target Net Zero Community will provide a range of insights, dedicated events & access to experts to support law firms across the UK, to help them meet government targets on carbon output. This will include webinars, a podcast series, articles and practical advice as well as a tailored dashboard which allows firms to track, reduce and prove their carbon footprint.
By 2050 it will be a legal requirement for the UK to be net zero. The UN has a target to be climate neutral, spearheaded by former Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. As ILFM Chief Executive Tim Kidd advises: “Law firms of all sizes need to recognise the changing consumer and business landscape and be clearly defined as responsible suppliers and employers. They need to demonstrate their engagement to being more sustainable in order to be responsible to the planet in the first instance – but also to compete successfully on tenders, appeal to new, more eco-aware employees and clients and achieve funding and business support access. This new initiative is a further example of our commitment to provide our members with the best possible support in every area that’s is, or is going to be, important to their firm. It is often our members within firms that have, or will have responsibility for figures and carbon tracking, so we wanted to support them in this.”
Joining the ILFM Target Net Zero Community will be free for ILFM members and access to the CBN dashboard will cost from £15 +vat per month and take as little as five minutes a month to complete, thus providing the ideal solution, at a cost and resource point that allows law firms to fully commit to being low carbon. Once embedded within their business, it will minimise risk exposure as the wider supply chain increasingly, demands low carbon goods & services.
James Napier, founder of CBN Expert, adds: “We’re delighted to be creating a partnership with ILFM and support law firms as they move toward complete carbon neutrality. Being low or zero carbon is very quickly becoming a requirement to do business rather than a choice. Without that commitment, you are quite simply opting out of future commerce, so it’s vital that we make it as easy as possible for law firms of all sizes to actively commit to and embed low carbon within their firm.
“Almost all of the law firms we’ve spoken to have said that they have won or lost clients based on their sustainability credentials relative to their competitors.”
Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England says: “Companies that don’t adapt will go bankrupt, without question.”
Tim concludes: “Being low or zero carbon is very quickly becoming a requirement to do business rather than a choice. It’s important to us to keep our members ahead of the curve and we see this network as something that will add significant value to the firms we support. The ILFM will itself be Targeting Net Zero as part of this initiative.”
