Carbon footprinting
The first step for any business wanting to take action on climate change is to understand the impact of its activities on the environment. The most common way of doing this is to measure its 'carbon footprint'. The problem is that there are a number of ways that it can be calculated using various tools and methodologies and including a variety of activities within its scope.
For example, one firm might calculate its carbon footprint measuring only those things for which it is directly responsible, such as energy use and greenhouse gas emissions while another may include indirect impacts such as staff travel to and from work or the emissions of its suppliers. This not only makes it difficult for individual firms to benchmark their performance, it can also lead to unfair comparisons between firms.
In order to address this issue, the Legal Sector Alliance has developed an online solution with Greenstone Carbon Management which provides firms with a user-friendly tool to calculate their footprint and monitor progress over time. The LSA Carbon Reporting Tool will also improve transparency, consistency and comparability of carbon emissions within the sector.
The online tool requires member firms to upload their relevant business consumption data Scope 1 and 2 emissions, together with employee business travel.
LSA members will have access to the tool for reporting from January 2013 with a reporting deadline of 31 March 2013. Each LSA member that would like access to the tool will be provided with an individual login and comprehensive user instructions. Help text is embedded throughout the data entry wizard and training webinars will be run by Greenstone.
If your firm enters data to the Carbon Reporting Tool, we will only use it for the purposes of analysing and reporting on trends across the sector. It will not be disclosed or attributed to a particular firm, without first obtaining consent.
Download terms and conditions for using the online tool (PDF 175kb)
LSA members can obtain a user ID and password by contacting Gyles Scott-Hayward at Greenstone (gscott-hayward@greenstonecarbon.com).
Please note that employee commuting is not measured within the LSA protocol, however we do encourage firms to promote sustainable travel. Visit the sustainable travel page for more on this topic.
Read the 2011 Carbon Report (PDF 6.8mb)
Read the 2010 Carbon Report (PDF, 1.4mb)
Read the 2009 Carbon Report (PDF, 2.2mb)
Read the 2008 Carbon Report (PDF, 623kb)