Our planet
We’re committed to protecting the most valuable resource we have: this remarkable planet we’re all fortunate enough to inhabit.
We are one of the first UK law firms to have piloted and joined the Net Zero Now Initiative, a protocol to reduce carbon across the legal sector backed by The Law Society. This puts us on the Road the Net Zero by 2030, and towards our objective to build a more sustainable future.
As a certified B Corp™, we are committed to transparency and continual improvement. With our annual financial reporting, we report on our energy consumption and associated greenhouse emissions under SECR regulation. For the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), we conduct an independent audit of our energy usage, industrial process and travel expenses.
How we are making a difference to our planet
We work with our people and landlords to reduce our carbon footprint and improve our impact. In recent years, we have installed:
- Solar panels on the roof of our Tunbridge Wells office
- Recycling points for food waste, plastics, paper, batteries and crisps packets
- Re-usable glass-bottled milk and refreshments in our buildings
- A hot-desking system which allows us to pre-determine occupancy and switch off Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems when they are not needed
- A bee hive on the flat roof of our head office in Tunbridge Wells
- Rooftop wildflowers and planters at our Tunbridge Wells office.
We enjoy building relationships with suppliers to find ways of improving our social and environmental impact together. Some examples of the improvements we have already made include managing our procurement to reduce the number of deliveries we receive; changing our waste collection service provider to a zero landfill company and using local suppliers.
We know we have work to do with our supply chain to understand more about the businesses we buy from. We have plans to consult with our current suppliers and upgrade our procurement policy and practices to incentivise and measure social and environmental performance.
At Cripps, we have signed the Greener Litigation Pledge, which commits us to take active steps to reduce the environmental impact in the way we deliver dispute resolution advice.
We share an aspiration with other law firms in the pledge to reach the position where the most environmentally sustainable options in litigation become the default. This includes promoting the use of electronic bundles for court hearings, considering the appropriateness of witnesses giving evidence by video-link and walking, cycling or using public transport for journeys to court wherever feasible.
If you are a solicitor, counsel or expert involved in disputes, please join us and our fellow signatories in making a difference with the Greener Litigation Pledge.
To continue improving how we understand and achieve positive impact as a responsible business, we are planning to:
- Update our Sustainable Procurement Policy and provide training to our people on day-to-day buying decisions
- Improve how we conserve water and monitor and record our usage
- Seek opportunities to provide pro-bono legal services for environmental companies and initiatives.