CMS UK joins The Climate Pledge

CMS UK is delighted to announce that it is joining The Climate Pledge, co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism. By becoming a signatory, the firm commits to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement across its operations in the UK, Central & Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Founded in 2019, The Climate Pledge is a cross-sector community of organisations that work together to solve the climate crisis and lower carbon emissions. Today, 375+ organisations across the world have become signatories. Each organisation commits to regular reporting on greenhouse gas emissions, the implementation of decarbonisation strategies through business change and innovation, and the implementation of socially beneficial offsets.

CMS UK Senior Partner Penelope Warne comments: “As a future facing firm, we recognise our responsibility towards the environment. We are committed to addressing our own impact and empowering all our people to do so. Our goal is to reach net zero by 2025, becoming a signatory to the Climate Pledge enhances our progress towards this target. We all have a responsibility, collectively and individually to make a difference.”

Sustainability is a central and strategic priority for the firm which became one of the first major law firms to commit to set Science Based Targets in 2018. Now approved, the targets focus on 30%-reduction of emissions by 2025 and 50%-reduction by 2030 for our own operations, as well as for our supply chain. The firm will also offset remaining emissions to go net zero by 2025 and has introduced a programme of over 20 workstreams to address climate change.

The firm was awarded A- by the Carbon Disclosure Projects (CDP) for how it’s addressing Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and A for supply chain efforts. This is above the legal sector average score of C. CDP runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts.