As part of the initiative GRÜNECKER goes Green, GRÜNECKER is one of the first law firms in Germany to achieve certified climate neutrality. Therefore, the law firm worked with TÜV Süd, an independent service company, to determine its carbon footprint in accordance with the international climate neutrality standard PAS 2060 and drew up a management plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, GRÜNECKER and its services have been climate neutral since 2018. The goal is not only to have offset all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at the latest, but to have eliminated them.
The law firm is committed to a catalogue of measures that includes the reduction of both direct and indirect emissions. The core elements are first of all the switch to 100 per cent green electricity, the implementation of an optimised heating management for the offices, as well as the continuous reduction of paper consumption and the use of climate-neutral paper types. Various energy efficiency measures are also being implemented as part of the sustainability strategy, which, for example, no longer has an impact on the CO2 balance due to existing green electricity purchases, but still help to release green electricity quantities. By systematically expanding home office workplaces, GRÜNECKER further contributes to reducing daily commuting. In addition, business trips are also to be reduced and, where possible and sensible, replaced even more than before by video conferences. The experience gained with the Covid-19 mitigation measures can be used to advantage here.
To implement the various topics, the office is in close contact with energy providers, service providers, building managers and various projects and initiatives for the reduction and compensation of greenhouse gases.
Dr. Peter Miltényi, a partner at GRÜNECKER, shares responsibility for GRÜNECKER goes Green with partner Gero Maatz-Jansen. “Since 100 percent greenhouse gas avoidance cannot be achieved in the short term, we will initially offset our unavoidable emissions by purchasing GHG reduction certificates,”says Miltényi. “Since the beginning of 2018, we have therefore already been supporting a project in Guatemala that manages the installation of wind turbines. Currently, we are continuing to look for innovative offsetting opportunities locally while offsetting is still necessary. The carbon neutrality project requires a continuous and long-term effort.”
Maatz-Jansen adds: “For us, GRÜNECKER goes Green is a project for future generations and will help determine how our almost 100-year-old company and the world will look in the next century. We want to make an active contribution to environmental protection and neutralise our ecological footprint in the medium term. Furthermore, we want to reinvest the funds saved through increased resource efficiency and optimisation of our business processes into the law firm and our employees.”