Environment
We are pleased to report that we have increased our efforts as a firm in relation to the environment over the past 12 months. We have continued our ongoing commitment to net-zero principles as we ensure these foundations are embedded throughout our business.
This year our focus continues to be on minimising our impact on the environment and maximising our resource efficiency, with particular emphasis on business travel, waste and energy. Underpinning these efforts are our Science Based Targets, ensuring our efforts are aligned with the latest climate science to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Our Journey to Date
We have updated our Greenhouse Gas (GHG)/C02 emissions targets and actions for the period 2025 to 2030. To ensure alignment with the CSRD reporting regime, we engaged Sustineo, an external consultancy, to realign our base year for reporting data and emissions progress to our financial year 2019 (as opposed to the calendar year 2018). Given the similarity of the overall level of emissions during the calendar years 2018 and 2019, it is important to note that this adjustment does not have a substantial impact on the base year's emission figures.
We have continued our ongoing commitment to net-zero principles, and we ensure these foundations are embedded throughout our business. This year our focus has been on minimising our negative impact on the environment and maximising resource efficiency, with particular emphasis on business travel, waste and energy.
In summary, the progress against our first five-year ambition from 2021 to 2025 has been mixed, given that the firm has also grown during that period. We made progress during COVID and have made progress on Scope 1 and 2, but that progress has been counterbalanced by a lack of progress on Scope 3 (in particular, business travel post-COVID). The result is that our carbon emissions have reduced by 3.6% compared to our baseline year and specifically over the past twelve months, we have seen an increase of approximately 5.6% on the previous financial year. We continue to work with Sustineo to conduct an annual independent audit of our direct and indirect carbon emissions. We have publicly committed to reducing our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 50% of our 2018 levels by 2025/26. We acknowledge that there is still much more to be done, primarily regarding Scope 3 emissions, to achieve this target. We will continue to work with the SBTi to review our existing targets and restate our ambition.
Please note that the graphs include a correction to prior years with the inclusion of the commuting footprint. This has been approximated for prior years based on our staff commuting survey, which was carried out in April 2025.
reduction in carbon emissions compared to our baseline
increase in carbon emissions in the last twelve months
Measurement of emissions is LBM (Location-Based Method)
Our FY24/25 Carbon Footprint
The main components of our current carbon footprint are as follows:
- Scope 1 (Fuel Combustion and Fugitive Emissions)
- Purchased energy
- Business travel
- Paper, waste and water
Our Scope 1, including fuel combustion and fugitive emissions, has reduced by 57.8% against our re-aligned baseline year (FY2019), with our emissions from purchased electricity reducing by 42%.
Our current aggregate Scope 3 emissions, on the other hand, have increased by 12% (1,177 tCO2eq) against our FY19 baseline year (1,050 tCO2eq). This is disappointing but contains mixed underlying news. On the one hand, within this, our emissions attributed to paper, waste, and water have decreased by 44%, demonstrating our commitment to resource reduction and efficiency. Unfortunately, in rebuilding relationships post-COVID, our business travel emissions have increased by 39% when compared to our FY19 baseline year. To address this, we have recognised the importance of devising and implementing a means of educating our people about and reducing our business travel footprint.
Over the past 12 months, we have made significant progress in relation to the firm’s business travel policy and guidelines. In June 2025 we launched a revised business travel policy for the firm that states our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint and provides guidelines to ensure all business travel is considered and, where possible, reduced and or/replaced with viable alternatives such as virtual meetings. We will be implementing travel footprint dashboards to explain team and individual contributions to carbon impact to ensure that the climate impact of travel and efficiency of travel are a core part of the team strategy.
We are committed to conserving natural resources and to reducing our carbon emissions. A key part of our carbon reduction strategy is a focus on energy reduction, coupled with a complete transition to renewable energy. As we look back at the past year, our Scope 2 purchased electricity consumption has decreased by 6.2% and our Scope 3 natural gas and other fugitive emissions have decreased by 6.7%.
This year we were once again pleased to maintain our ISO50001 Energy Management accreditation from Certification Europe. As part of our Energy Savings Action Plan for the firm, we have conducted feasibility assessments for various energy efficiency projects this year, including a cost-benefit analysis for replacing our solar thermal system with solar PV electricity on the roof of our office buildings at Ten Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin.
Scope 1, including fuel combustion and fugitive emissions, has reduced by
Emissions from purchased electricity have reduced by
Emissions attributed to paper, waste, and water have decreased by
Business travel emissions have increased by
Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)
The firm has been a signatory to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) since 2022. As part of our commitment to these targets, we report our carbon emissions annually through this report, which is also publicly available on our website.
Our initial carbon reduction strategy was adopted in 2021 with the ambitious aim of reducing Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions to 50% of 2018 levels by 2026. Over the past 12 months, we have restated our emissions targets following a thorough review of the firm’s environmental strategy and in consideration of the progress we have achieved to date. These restated targets for the period July 2025 to June 2030 consider developments in EU targets and sustainability reporting in the intervening period since our initial statement.
We are currently working with the SBTi to validate our restated targets as follows:
To meet these targets, we will implement a range of measures, including:
- continuing with annual independent audits of our carbon footprint using our external consultants, Sustineo;
- reducing GHG emissions from business travel through a combination of reduced travel, the use of travel carbon reduction dashboards and targets and an updated sustainable travel policy;
- increasingly transitioning to 100% renewable energy as this becomes possible;
- and engaging with suppliers and partners to reduce emissions across our value chain.
As outlined above, this year we undertook a rebaselining exercise for our Science Based Targets and carbon footprint reporting, adjusting our baseline year from Calendar Year 2019 to Financial Year 2019. Subsequently, our 'Carbon Reduction Ambition' graph below has been adjusted, with our avoidance offsets also being reallocated to align with the new reporting framework.
For transparency, we have included our 'Carbon Reduction Ambition' graph from last year’s report below as a reference. In addition to the rebasing, the carbon impact in prior years has been increased to include a proxy figure for staff commuting derived from the commuting survey carried out in FY25.
Last year's graph based on calendar year:
This year's graph based on Financial Year:
During the period 2021 to 2025, we purchased certified carbon emission avoidance offsets. For the past 18 months to end FY25, we have purchased 4,400 carbon credits from CO2balance UK, having worked with this project for the past number of years. The longer period was to cover the period adjustment in our carbon footprint reporting from calendar year to financial year. We selected this project for investment given the firm’s historic connection to Zambia, and we believe that it is a complementary project that currently fits with our environmental journey. This figure has been chosen to ensure that we fund avoidance offsets that are greater in amount than our current footprint.
CO2balance Zambia Safe Water Project Update
Over the past 12 months we have continued to invest in suitable certified domestic sustainable sequestration projects. Our intention is to eventually replace our current certified avoidance offsets with local, verifiable, long-term, sustainable sequestration projects to counteract the impact of our residual GHG emissions footprint.
Each year, Paul Chiplen from C02balance, provides us with an update on the project:
“The Zambia Eastern Safe Water project started in August 2022 and has successfully rehabilitated 160 boreholes. The active implementation phase of the project is now completed, and the focus is on monitoring the boreholes to ensure clean, safe water is being delivered to the communities. The boreholes undergo water quality testing and routine chlorination, as well as handpump maintenance where needed. Every community involved in the project receives annual WASH trainings (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) and is visited in person on a quarterly basis for a general check-up and feedback session.
Previously, an Area Pump Minder training programme was established, where a group of community men and women within project communities were approached to receive formal training to become ‘Pump Minders’, the local name for technicians who conduct borehole maintenance. They receive a steady income, support for the lifetime of the project and gain experience to continue supporting rural communities once the project funding has ended. They are important stakeholders and conduct minor handpump maintenance and work alongside the field officers for major maintenance for the project boreholes. This means that repairs can be conducted quickly, improving borehole functionality and the provision of safe water to the communities.
With Zambia facing a deepening humanitarian crisis, the importance of our work has never been greater. Since January 2024, Zambia has been facing a prolonged drought - regarded as the worst in two decades - severely affecting 72% of the country. The prolonged dry spells have led to food insecurity, a national emergency declaration and water scarcity, during a time when accessing safe, clean water was already difficult due to a cholera outbreak. The number of people depending on water from the project boreholes has increased substantially. To combat the cholera outbreak, our in-country partner has been collaborating with the Ministry of Health to chlorinate boreholes and deliver enhanced WASH training in the communities.”
Zambia Water Chlorination
Zambia WASH Training
Minimising our Waste
As a firm, a key focus of our environmental strategy is waste reduction. We are pleased to have been awarded Zero to Landfill certification for 2025 (July 2024 to June 2025). This year, we have also worked with our people to help them make better choices when it comes to disposing of their waste by introducing improved waste disposal signage throughout the building. In February 2025, we signed up to the Re-Turn children’s charities campaign and the proceeds generated from all our recyclable cans and plastic bottles now help six Irish children’s charities: Barnardos Ireland, Barretstown, Make-A-Wish, ISPCC, Laura Lynn and the Jack and Jill Foundation.
Printing
Our indirect emissions for 2024 in relation to paper consumption have decreased by 49.3% compared to our revised 2019 baseline. We will continue to monitor our use and aim to further reduce our paper consumption.
Catering
We continue to work with our catering supplier, Gather & Gather, to ensure optimal quality control and waste reduction for our business. The installation of a Positive Carbon device in our main restaurant in 2023 continues to help us achieve a reduction in food waste and leftover food from breakfast and lunchtime service that is not sold and cannot be reused or repurposed. Over the past year, we have made a further 20% reduction in food waste from the previous year, and a 38% cost reduction for the same period. We are pleased to continue our partnership with Gather & Gather. We share a common goal of making a positive and sustainable impact by minimising our carbon footprint from a catering perspective.
Further reduction in food waste from the previous year of
Biodiversity in the Workplace
In January 2025 the firm became a signatory to the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, which is co-ordinated by the National Biodiversity Data Centre. This is a cross-sectoral framework that aims to facilitate an ecosystem where pollinators can thrive. As a firm we are committed to enriching our local ecosystem where possible and the preservation of bees and other pollinators is a recognised part of our commitment to the environment and our carbon reduction plan. Following the installation of our own beehive in 2021, our bees continue to happily reside at on the rooftop at Ten Earlsfort Terrace, and are monitored for progress by our new partner, HoneyFitz. We have also introduced some new pollinator friendly herb planters to our outside courtyard area. The planters enhance our pollinator ecosystem and provide important pollen and nectar sources for our bees and visiting butterflies. The herbs grown in the planters are used in our restaurant by our catering partners.
Focus on Education and Sustainability
In April 2025, we launched an ‘Environment Awareness Month’ to better inform and educate our people on three key areas relating to our environmental focus: travel, biodiversity and waste. The aim was to look at how we as a firm could collectively become more sustainable in our everyday lives – both at work and at home. In relation to travel, we collaborated with the National Transport Authority on its Smarter Travel Programme and following a very thorough assessment, we were very proud to be awarded the NTA Smarter Travel Mark in June 2025. Collective data on the commuter habits of our people and our commuter transport choices now feed into our plans to support more sustainable travel for the firm. We hosted a lunchtime information session during the month-long series of activities with Sarah Kelly from the National Biodiversity Data Centre to discuss how we can all work together to improve our landscape in the city or the countryside, to ensure pollinators can survive and thrive. We also used the month of April to launch some new and improved waste signage on all floors of our building to promote better informed choices when it comes to the correct way to dispose of everyday waste items.
NTA Travel Mark Award Presentation: Jean Maxwell (Head of Sustainable Business), Charlotte Nolan-Browne (Sustainable Business Executive), Philip Smith (Chair, Arthur Cox Sustainable Business Committee) with Minakshi Rana and John O'Flynn from the NTA
CHANGEMAKERS OF THE FUTURE
This year our 2025 Niamh Burke Bursary was awarded to Anna Connors. The bursary was established in 2020 to honour the memory of our former Arthur Cox Partner and Consultant, Niamh Burke, who passed away in 2018. Anna Connors is a student at the University of Galway, and she will use the bursary to help fund a Master’s in Energy Systems Engineering as she focusses on the feasibility of harnessing offshore wind and energy to meet Ireland’s growing energy demands.
Looking Ahead
Over the next 12 months we intend to implement our new travel policy. A key part of this will be the roll out of our new carbon travel dashboards to all practice groups. Supporting this, we commit to undertaking firm-wide carbon literacy training to improve awareness of the firm’s carbon reduction ambition.