How The CarbonNeutral Company helped:
• Conducted a greenhouse gas assessment of Simmons & Simmons’ global operations
• Reduced Simmons & Simmons’ global carbon footprint to net zero through verifi ed carbon offset projects in India,
Jamaica, Germany and China
• Provided communications support to help secure national and trade media
• Created bespoke marketing collateral for Simmons & Simmons’ CarbonNeutral® day, part of a World
Environment Day initiative
• Co-hosted a CarbonNeutral® Insight Series seminar on ‘Motivating Staff to Drive Down Carbon and Cost’
Stragglers
Results
This is a small but infl uential group within Simmons &
With the CarbonNeutral® programme underpinning
Simmons, who are typically cynics and very questioning and
Simmons & Simmons’ strategy to motivate staff to
challenging. James Clark’s view is that their challenges are
reduce emissions, the fi rm has seen how small things
useful: it ensures any communication or initiative resulting
really make a big difference. With a large number of
from the company’s CarbonNeutral® programme is robust
staff – over 1700 – the challenge has been to reach
and can withstand their criticism.
and engage all individuals which has been achieved by
avoiding a ‘one size fi ts all’ approach.
The ‘Stragglers’ at Simmons & Simmons respond
positively to:
In four years, through good management and staff
engagement, the London head offi ce has reduced
• Incremental and ongoing information based on
its annual electricity consumption by 27.3%. The
concrete facts
fi nancial translation of this means that the cost
• Transparent facts and fi gures: they want examples
for Simmons & Simmons to go CarbonNeutral® has
of how initiatives like the fi rm’s CarbonNeutral®
been more than met by this alone. Other savings
programme save money and jobs, rather than the world
have been realised through reductions in gas
• Being acknowledged: it may not be possible to know the
and water usage and international business travel.
answers to all their questions, but fi nd out and go back
to them.
Across the company, the total emissions savings are:

As a result of its CarbonNeutral® status, Simmons &
19% reduction in electricity consumption in three years
Simmons has been featured in international and
15% reduction in business air travel in three years
national media. Aside from profi ling the fi rm and keeping
17% less waste to landfi ll in two years.
environmental responsibility in the news, this has been
important in reinforcing a sense of pride across all three
With the combined results leading to an overall reduction
groups.
of 27% CO
2
in emissions.
Keeping momentum
At the beginning of every year the environmental

committee meets to discuss and agree the objectives
for Simmons & Simmons’ CarbonNeutral® programme.
The committee is dynamic and as new people come into
the group they bring new ideas which stimulates the
programme. The ideas generated by the committee are
evaluated on the cost to implement and how much they
are likely to change behaviour to contribute to the fi rm’s
emissions reductions targets.
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