King & Wood Mallesons is proud to have received official Australian Government backed Climate Active Carbon Neutral organisation certification, recognising our investment in projects that reduce or remove emissions from the atmosphere.
The certification is an important accomplishment and significant step towards KWM’s objective of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
The Climate Active certification means that all greenhouse gas emissions made by KWM’s Australian FY22 operations were offset to cancel out their impact on climate change. It also signifies an ongoing commitment - certification for the current financial year is presently underway.
Emissions quantified and offset include scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions for accommodation and facilities, electricity, food, air, land and sea transport, machinery and vehicles, postage and freight, technology, office equipment and supplies, waste, water and working from home.
These emissions have been offset via programs in Australia, China and India, using a mixture of Australian Carbon Credit Units, Verified Emissions Reductions and Verified Carbon Units.
Each of these programs have been intentionally chosen for the different benefits each provides.
Within Australia, cultural burning benefits First Nations people, and improves natural landscapes’ resilience. A small run-of-river hydro power project in China reduces reliance on fossil fuels for local communities, while alternative energy projects in China and India use animal, food and agricultural waste to generate electricity, providing health, employment and other benefits for poorer communities.
Commenting on the certification, KWM climate and ESG practice head Claire Rogers said:
“Responding to the issues surrounding climate change presents us with a great opportunity to play a key role as leader, advisor and community partner, for our people our clients and our future.”
The carbon neutral status builds on the separate re-certification earlier this year of KWM’s Environmental Management System to reduce emissions, waste, water and energy use. Key elements include:
- sourcing 100% renewable electricity for our Australian operations before 2024
- a 100% reduction of scope 2 emissions and commitments to set science-based targets by December 2023.
Further commenting KWM climate change and sustainability manager Susan Kitchener said:
“Certification of our carbon neutrality and of our Environmental Management System are the first steps in what we believe is a robust and wholistic climate change and sustainability strategy.
We are fully committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050 and look forward to sharing our interim and long term which we have committed to set under the Science Based Targets Initiative.”
