Ogier makes public commitment to environmental sustainability through SBTi

Ogier has made a public commitment to SBTi - the Science based Target initiative - the global body enabling businesses to set emissions reduction targets in line with climate science.

Ogier's global managing partner Edward Mackereth said: "It is very important to us as a global law and corporate administration firm, with a team of 800 across our offices in Asia, the Caribbean and Europe, to be publicly accountable for our commitment to, and therefore action on, the climate crisis. This is a response to an urgent call to action on Race to Zero from UN agencies and business leaders amid the momentum generated by COP26, and to our people and communities .

There are currently 2,169 companies taking action through SBTi. Ogier is one of the 1,045 companies – and the first offshore law firm - making commitments to align their ambition with 1.5^oC warming goal.

"We are looking at sustainability from several angles with the two key areas being, firstly, to look at our own business and assess and improve our performance when it comes to carbon emissions, diversity and inclusion and other sustainability metrics and, secondly, looking at how best to integrate environment, social and governance (ESG) into the legal services we offer to better support clients and communities to address the issues we are facing in society today. Our approach to improving and being accountable for our environmental performance includes:

1. Reducing our Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, setting net zero targets according to SBTi methodology, taking practical steps to reduce our carbon footprint, source renewable energy where possible while actively supporting climate projects that contribute to the global net zero goal.

2. Minimising the impact of our business and personal activity on the environment through sustainable procurement of environmentally friendly products and services, reducing waste and responsible waste disposal.

3. Inspiring our people, clients and business partners to make positive change through education and awareness raising, sharing our progress by monitoring and publishing our performance and supporting our clients to address a range ESG and impact challenges and opportunities.

"We've seen a huge uptick in the number of clients talking about climate, ESG and sustainability. As well as offering expertise across a number of our service lines including sustainable finance, sustainable investing and impact funds, private wealth and ESG, our Sustainable Investment Consulting practice within Ogier Global helps asset managers get up to speed with ESG themes, climate-related risk in portfolio management, related terminology and regulatory requirements.

"Simply put, sustainability is an absolute priority. Making such a public commitment as this ensures we are accountable, as are all organisations that sign up to the SBTi initiative. Commitment without action is pointless, which is why we are investing real time, energy and resources in to making sure we achieve these ambitious targets."