Greenberg Traurig LLP issued the following announcement on Dec. 22.
The non-profit Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) confirmed that Greenberg Traurig is the first major law firm to be certified through its Green-e® Energy program. In addition, CRS has certified that Greenberg Traurig’s North American offices are powered by 100% renewable energy. The CRS Green-e® Energy program has been called the leading renewable energy certification program in the United States.
Going beyond North America, the global law firm’s 40 offices are now net carbon neutral with respect to their office energy usage, and are 100% powered by renewable energy, achieved by the purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs).
“These are significant steps in furthering our continuing sustainability initiative by reducing our carbon footprint,” said Greenberg Traurig Chief Executive Officer Brian L. Duffy.
“To achieve these milestones, we entered into a long-term transaction for the purchase of RECs and associated compliance premiums from a new wind farm and a new solar project. This has truly been a global effort,” said Greenberg Traurig Shareholder Iskender “Alex” H. Catto, who leads the firm’s program and chairs its Power Industry Projects and Restructuring Practice.
The wind farm is currently in operation and the solar farm is expected to be operational prior to the end of 2020, Catto noted.
“This undertaking means that we are annually capable of offsetting up to 13 million kw/hours of global office electricity usage or its equivalent with clean, renewable energy,” Duffy said. “Our status benefits not only our planet but is also of direct benefit to many of our clients.”
Increasingly, companies are adopting sustainability initiatives and voluntary sustainability reporting. In fact, there is a trend in shareholder initiatives that require corporate sustainability reporting. As these clients implement their sustainability initiatives, they turn to look at the emissions in their supply chain. Greenberg Traurig, as a legal service provider, is a part of that supply chain. Therefore, Duffy said, the firm’s global net-carbon neutrality with respect to office energy usage allows clients to directly benefit by reporting reduced carbon emissions from within their supply chain.
“We did this because it is the right thing to do. We are a global law firm with both global and local clients. Carbon is a global issue that has both global and local impacts,” Duffy said.
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