Legal Sector Alliance official launch

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales urged the legal profession to sign up to a set of bespoke principles to combat global warming in a keynote speech given last night at the official launch of the Legal Sector Alliance (LSA) in London.

The LSA is an inclusive movement of law firms and organisations committed to working collaboratively to take action on climate change by reducing their carbon footprint and adopting environmentally sustainable practices.

The Prince of Wales promoted a low carbon future for the legal profession and celebrated the sector's commitment to taking collective action on climate change by changing the way it does business. Polar Explorer Pen Hadow, who is leading the Catlin Arctic Survey also spoke at the event to highlight the urgency of the imperative to take action. The Arctic Survey is a pioneering expedition, which aims to result in the first accurate mapping of one of the Earth’s largest and most at risk geophysical surface features: the North Pole ice cap.

Irwin Mitchell is one of the LSA’s founding members who together over the past 12 months have led the development of the LSA’s principles and a variety of tools and case studies to support their adoption.

The LSA principles which provide a framework for taking action on climate change, have been developed through extensive consultation with environmental experts and law firms of all sizes across the country. They cover firms’ own operations, as well as their influence on clients, suppliers, employees and policy makers. Many firms, both large and small, have already signed up to the principles and the Prince will urge the rest of the profession to follow suit.

Michael Napier, Senior Partner of Irwin Mitchell said: "I am  delighted that Irwin Mitchell has been able to join this excellent initiative and become one of the founding members of the Legal Sector Alliance on climate change and to contribute to the valuable initial work conducted by the Group. Irwin Mitchell as a firm has a strong social responsibility policy and ethos and recognises that we all have a duty to preserve our finite natural resources for future generations."

Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director, Forum for the Future said; "I think these Principles are excellent, and I am impressed to see just how comprehensive the boundary conditions are - that’s really important. I look forward to seeing how the legal profession takes these principles forward into action."

The premise of the LSA is that acting on climate change is in the profession’s collective interest and that greater impact can be achieved through collaborative action and the sharing of knowledge and experience than could be achieved individually. The greater the number of firms, chambers and in-house legal teams that get involved, the greater the chance of having a real influence on the way the sector does business.  Law firms, in-house legal counsel and barristers’ chambers across the country are invited to join the LSA by signing up at www.legalsectoralliance.com.