Penningtons Manches Cooper signs the Greener Litigation Pledge

Posted: 11/11/2022

Our litigators are delighted to be joining a select but growing team of solicitors, barristers and legal professionals, who share our aspiration to reach the position where the most environmentally sustainable options in litigation become the default.

We believe sustainability is vital - both for our own business, and for our clients’. We are already committed to reducing energy usage and waste, challenging our suppliers, and reducing our carbon footprint. Other teams within the firm are already assisting clients in sourcing greener lease terms or finance options.

By signing the Greener Litigation Pledge, our litigators are both reinforcing and further publicising important day-to-day working practices such as:

• further reducing our use of paper – in correspondence, with counsel and experts, and in court bundles
• considering how best to send and store emails – recognising that even electronic communications have a carbon footprint
• wherever possible, utilising new technology fast-tracked during Covid to hold court hearings remotely actively influencing court and arbitrations forums to reduce the environmental impact of proceedings
• continuing to implement our sustainable travel policy – reducing our travel where possible, or travelling together / using public transport where travel is essential

The initial objective of the Greener Litigation Pledge was to support the courts and court users of England and Wales to play an important role in achieving net zero by 2050 (the UK having been the first country to pass laws to end its contribution to global warming) and encourage lasting change in litigation practice here and around the world. Since its launch, there has been growing international interest to join and expand the initiative.

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