Environmental performance 2022/2023

This report summarises the firm’s performance through the financial year 2022/2023.
Since the pandemic, the firm has offered a hybrid working model. Our current policy allows our staff to spend up to 60% of their time working from home. We do not calculate this figure, but this contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions from travel.

We have calculated emissions arising from business foreign travel by air, as we realise that this can have a significant impact on CO2 emissions. We have significantly reduced our travel to the European Patent Office (EPO), as many hearings can now be carried out using video conferencing technology. The expenditure in the financial year 2022/2023 on travel to and from the EPO now represents under 7% of the level that we had in respect of travel to the EPO in the financial year 2019/2020. It is our expectation that the cost of travel to the EPO will remain at a similar very low level in future years.

Our total travel cost (including travel to the EPO) is slightly less in the financial year 2022/23 than in 2019/2020, notwithstanding an increased demand for foreign travel following the Covid-19 pandemic. As well as offices across the UK, Boult Wade Tennant LLP now also has offices in Germany and Spain, so there is an increased requirement for international inter-office travel. We have also seen an increased requirement to visit our clients and to attend conferences since travel restrictions were lifted after the pandemic.

Due to our commitment to minimizing CO2 emissions, the firm ensures that all foreign travel is properly evaluated and justified, and only essential foreign travel is conducted. The firm has approved a revised Travel Guidance in 2023/24 that provides a mechanism for travel to be reviewed and approved by appropriate stakeholders. We have also rolled out a new Travel Management System that highlights the most environmentally friendly travel options during travel booking. This system will also improve our reporting capabilities in respect of CO2 emissions.

Boult Wade Tennant LLP has partnered with One Tribe to offset the environmental cost of the limited paper that we still use. One Tribe is a non-profit organization that protects rainforests globally. Every invoice raised by Boult Wade Tennant LLP (whether on paper or electronically) includes a donation from us to One Tribe. That money is then certified by One Tribe and transferred to their conservation partners, through whom it is allocated to rainforest projects to protect trees, prevent deforestation, and reduce and store CO2 from our atmosphere. We first activated our account with One Tribe in June 2021 and, from then until July 2023, Boult Wade Tennant LLP has protected 409,062 trees across multiple rainforest projects.

Methodology
The report below includes Scope 2 natural gas emissions and Scope 2 purchased electricity emissions for our UK offices in London, Reading and Cambridge. The data has been collected from the management companies and, where not available, estimated.

In addition, the report shows emissions arising from business foreign travel by air. Data on travel has been obtained from invoices, expenses and internal records. The firm has used UK Government GHG Conversion Factors for Company reporting, for the appropriate year, to calculate CO2 emissions. The overall modest increase from 2021-2022 to 2022-23 reflects a period of significantly increased travel and office occupancy following the pandemic.

* The firm has decided to calculate the CO2 intensity ratio as tonnes CO2/ number of UK based full time equivalent employees and members, as at the end of the relevant financial year. It is believed that this is the most relevant metric for a professional services firm.