BIODIVERSITY AT WORK

As part of the firm’s environmental strategy and our carbon reduction plan, we took the decision in October 2021 to install our very own bee hive on our roof terrace at Ten Earlsfort Terrace. The firm is pleased to work with Boom Tree Bees who constructed a log hive for our new residents. The key aim of this project is to promote conservation but we also hope to harvest some honey in a couple of years. Installation of the new Arthur Cox log hive took place in January 2022 and we welcomed our first swarm of bees in May 2022.

GREEN TEAM NETWORK

Our firm continues to participate with representation on the GTN Steering Committee. Over the past 12 months we have continued our involvement with the GTN Green Pledge Group that piloted and launched the GTN “Green Pledge” in Q3 2021. The Green Pledge is an online tool to encourage and support firms in the Irish Funds industry to take action on sustainability issues affecting their business. We were pleased to be one of the 12 firms across the Irish funds industry that took part in the pilot. The GTN also held its first in person event The Green Pledge in Action in April 2021, with our Arthur Cox representative on the Committee taking part in a panel discussion to explore the Green Pledge in more detail across the funds industry.

THE CHANCERY LANE PROJECT

We are pleased to report that our firm’s Real Estate group has continued to work with colleagues in other law firms and sustainability professionals, to spearhead the development of green clauses for Irish real estate contracts under the umbrella of The Chancery Lane Project (TCLP). TCLP supports the legal sector in enabling the transition to net zero emissions and a low carbon economy. With its community of over 2,500 participants and 300 organisations globally, TCLP has produced a suite of practical resources to help lawyers add wording to their precedents and client agreements to address the climate risks of their transactions and in-house counsel work with their lawyers to ensure that their organisations’ net zero targets are delivered by their supply chain, financing and other contracts. Since 2021, our firm has led a working group of Irish real estate lawyers on the drafting of green lease clauses under the umbrella of TCLP.

By drafting a bank of green lease clauses, the working group aims to:

• provide Irish real estate lawyers with a summary of the concept of green leases and the relevance of climate change targets to real estate practice;
• outline some of the more common voluntary green building certifications and energy efficiency standards that increasingly feature in real estate transactions;
• encourage lawyers to raise the topic of green leases with their landlord and tenant clients; and
• provide real estate lawyers with sample green lease clauses (and commentary) to include in new commercial leases, subject to client instructions.

The Arthur Cox Real Estate group is delighted to be leading this project and looks forward to presenting the green lease clauses to our clients and other professionals in the coming months.

EDUCATION

Education of our people on our environmental progress as a firm is important to us. As part of our activities during the year we organised talks with our environmental partners, Sustineo and CO2balance to provide updates on the work that we are doing, particularly in relation to the reduction of our carbon footprint. Plans are already in place for 2022/23 for a schedule of talks and activities to further educate our people on how they as individuals can be more environmentally aware and have a greater impact, not just in the workplace but also when at home with their families.

Our commitment to the environment is a core pillar of our Sustainable Business programme. We believe that by being active and responsible citizens we can make our firm even stronger. Over the past 12 months we have taken huge strides on our journey and we are committed to continuous progress that is measured and tracked to ensure that we are playing our part in a better, more sustainable future for all.