CMS’s UK LLP has unveiled a programme to reduce the carbon emissions of its network of offices to net zero by 2025.

The firm aims to reduce emissions by 30% by 2025 and 50% by 2030 and will offset its emissions to net zero by the 2025 deadline.

Its pledge comes after a 12-month programme at the firm in conjunction with the consultants Carbon Intelligence to devise targets and is in line with the UN’s goal of limiting the global temperate rise to 1.5 degrees centigrade as a result of climate change.

It includes measures to renegotiate its electricity contracts to maximise supply from renewable sources and a review of suppliers’ carbon reduction commitments.

The firm believes it is one of the first law firms to adopt targets set by the UN-backed Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI), famously backed by Microsoft in January when it pledged to remove ‘all of the carbon’ from the environment it had emitted since it was founded in 1975 by 2050.

CMS is now seeking independent verification for its programme from the SBTi, where it is already recognised as having ‘committed’ to setting science-based targets along with fellow UK firms Slaughter and May and Pinsent Masons.

It is also exploring its options to emulate Microsoft and go ‘net negative’ by addressing its historical carbon debt. 

CMS senior partner Penelope Warne said: “We are living through difficult times, but as a firm we recognise that climate change remains a central priority for us, our people and our clients.

“That is why it is so important that our commitment to reduce emissions to net zero by 2025 is backed by scientific and independently verifiable measurement.”

In February, the firm announced it had developed a mobile app for its staff that encourages them to reduce their carbon footprint.

Other green initiatives announced by law firms in recent months include the appointment by Ashurst of a global sustainability partner and a commitment by Baker McKenzie to reduce its emissions from energy consumption by 92 percent by 2030 (from a 2019 baseline).