In the early 2000s, our work with Envolve, a Bath-based charity aimed at promoting sustainable, positive environmental practices to businesses, motivated us to raise awareness of environmental issues and introduce an environmental policy to address them in the workplace. We formed a Green Office Group to move this project forward and to ensure the environmental policy was maintained, developed and promoted across the company.

This led to the decision to go one step further and implement an Environmental Management System (EMS), which would give us a framework for continually planning and implementing environmental improvements, measuring and internally reviewing our progress. The EMS is independently audited against the International Standard for Environmental Management Systems, ISO14001. In November 2005, we became one of the first solicitors in the UK to achieve this standard when Lyons Davidson’s Bristol Offices were awarded the ISO14001 accreditation. Our EMS is now in place throughout the entire company; the Green Office Group is still going strong, and we now have a full-time Environmental Management Coordinator.

Some of the green initiatives we have introduced include:

• Recycling facilities in all Lyons Davidson buildings;
• Purchasing only Fairtrade tea, coffee and sugar;
• Paper reduction and recycling schemes;
• IT equipment and battery recycling;
• Energy management initiatives, such as motion-sensor lighting controls;
• Video-conferencing facilities to reduce the need for travel between our offices;
• A workplace Travel Plan, which won Gold at the West of England Travel Plan Awards in 2010.

As part of our commitment to continually improving our environmental performance, we set ourselves objectives every year. For 2012, these are:

• To reduce staff paper consumption by 5% per head, through investment in paperless office technology and secure electronic filing;
• To reduce electricity use in all our buildings by 3%, through a combination of behaviour change and energy efficient technology;
• To carry out an in-depth survey of staff commuting and business travel, so that we can effectively target sustainable travel support measures at all our offices;
• To use the expertise of our Environment, Health and Safety department to educate and raise awareness of environmental management and environmental law, both within Lyons Davidson and externally;
• To measure and reduce our carbon emissions, aiming for a 2.5% reduction from 2011 levels;
• To develop our procurement strategy and integrate a system for purchasing goods and services in an environmentally sustainable manner;
• To bring our two newest offices, at Fleet Street and Edinburgh, into the scope of our ISO 14001 registration.

Lyons Davidson is a member of the Legal Sector Alliance, a group of law firms committed to working together to act on climate change. As members, we sign up to the LSA’s seven principles, agreeing we will:

• Measure, manage and reduce the environmental impact of our operations;
• Work with external stakeholders to reduce our indirect environmental impact;
• Integrate awareness of climate change across our business;
• Advise clients on the opportunities and obligations arising from and under climate change law;
• Work collaboratively to engage in the public debate on climate change and to develop, apply and promote best practice across the sector;
• Report on our progress and be accountable;
• Adopt and pursue a challenging emissions reduction target appropriate for our own organisation and needs, achievement of which will deliver, over stated time periods, a meaningful and progressive reduction in our emissions.

We meet regularly with other LSA members to discuss our progress, share ideas and best practice, and learn about the latest developments in business approaches to environmental management.

For more information about our Environmental Management System or the work we have done with the LSA, please contact our EMS Coordinator Mary Lavin on 0117 904 5966 or by emailing mlavin@lyonsdavidson.co.uk