Lawyers must maintain high standards to resist corruption and outside interference. Lawyers must have the freedom to accept or reject a case in order to protect a client`s best interests and avoid conflicts of interest. Confidentiality and legal privileges must be fully protected. Legal organizations bring their findings to the sustainability programs they have launched, from composting to renovation. Help clients comply with legal and regulatory requirements and develop initiatives to promote employee safety, wellness, diversity, equity and inclusion to improve employee engagement, productivity and retention. Ensuring the sustainability of the legal profession must be based on the following values: The arguments in our first point apply to social, governance and environmental issues: racial and gender equality, nutrition and public health, supply chain ethics, employee well-being and countless other pressing issues. Of course, much of this legal work will involve helping companies mitigate financial and reputational risks or avoid litigation, but it will also involve advising managers on how to turn moral decisions into business opportunities. Sustainability is about making long-term business investments to deliver lasting benefits to a company`s environment, employees, communities and bottom line. But without measuring and recording which initiatives were implemented and when, it is impossible for an organization to decode these benefits. That`s why a sustainability audit is essential.
Lawyers must be prepared to meet the challenges of a globalized and interconnected world and be committed to understanding, respecting and respecting different cultures and legal systems. Lawyers must welcome and ensure a wide range of perspectives by promoting the exchange of legal skills. Contrary to the intricacies of applied ethics, transparency is not obvious to lawyers. Your profession is one in which client confidentiality is a sacred (and rightly so) principle. But technology has made transparency inevitable. Never before has there been such a wealth of data in the public domain. Technology has also allowed leaks to multiply (the Pandora Papers and the Facebook denunciation are just two recent examples that have made headlines). The result is a chain of corporate responsibility – sometimes even legal liability – that extends to both law firms and their clients. Telecoms giant Vodafone now uses an ESG dashboard when selecting its legal service providers, while pharmaceutical company Novartis withholds 15% of fees from law firms that fail to meet contractually agreed diversity and inclusion targets. The second is cost reduction. Controlling companies` water consumption will also have a positive impact on results.
The cost of water and related services has risen well above the consumer price index. To offset these costs, companies can save money by replacing outdated water supply systems with more efficient and modern technologies. Implementing efficiency and freshwater conservation measures in the office can reduce operating costs while achieving a company`s sustainability goals. The Green Procurement Program describes the practice of purchasing products and services that have less impact on the environment. The EVP encourages the exclusive purchase of products certified in sustainability (which shows a brand`s commitment to being ecological). Provide legal advice to help clients consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations when making credit and investment decisions, including: corporate clients assess relevant criteria for ESG loans, investments or incentives, financial institutions define ESG-related lending practices, and financial market participants that issue and advise ESG-related instruments or products. We are co-founders and legal advisors of the China International Business Dialogue on Environmental Governance, a coalition that facilitates dialogue between Chinese environmental authorities and multinational corporations in China. Our operations team is committed to running our business in an environmentally responsible manner, including saving natural resources and energy and reducing our global carbon footprint.
To this end, we were carbon neutral for scope 1 and scope 2 emissions in 2020. Lawyers in our Environment, Social & Governance (ESG) practice advise commercial clients in virtually every industry and department on a range of ESG and sustainability issues. And through our robust pro bono program, we provide free legal advice to nonprofits focused on sustainability and environmental protection around the world. There is increased market demand for sustainable practices with robust and transparent disclosure. For example, public and private sector clients seek legal advice on responsible environmental and social practices. For example, Delta Air Lines and Microsoft Corp have committed to significantly reducing their carbon emissions, taking into account the CO2 footprint of their affiliated law firms. The legal profession is on the threshold of fundamental change. An era of innovation is breaking and reversing old ways of organizing and working, bringing with it new challenges and opportunities. The future of our planet is in danger and requires immediate action. Social inequality and widespread poverty are pushing for new solutions to build a better world. The COVID-19 pandemic that has shaken our world this year has highlighted this inequality and hit the world`s most vulnerable hardest.
The crisis has also accelerated digitalisation and the transition to a more sustainable lifestyle. Lawyers are challenged not only to adapt to a changing economy and society, but also to make positive changes at scale. We have identified four key environmental challenges facing the legal sector and listed them below: LFSN CSR and Sustainability Report on Law Firm Sustainability Perspectives Legal Advisory Services provides expert legal advice to help legal departments better manage risks and manage complex and evolving sustainability regulations and issues. EY Legal Function`s legal advisory and management teams provide strategic advice and support from more than 1,000 lawyers to help legal departments manage the growing sustainability workload more efficiently and cost-effectively. EY Law`s multidisciplinary teams include legal, project management and technology professionals who are at the forefront of regulatory developments and are well positioned to support clients across all industries and around the world with their growing sustainability needs.
