Transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD), which has an office in Bristol, has been named in the top 2% of the world’s businesses for its commitment to sustainability.
The recognition by EcoVadis, the world’s largest and most-trusted provider of business sustainability ratings, follows its evaluation of more than 100,000 companies from 200 industries spanning 175 countries. 
EcoVadis assesses businesses across four themes – Labour & Human Rights, Ethics, Environment and Sustainable Procurement – with many organisations across the world now taking into consideration its ratings of potential clients, suppliers and partners.
WBD, whose Bristol base is the second largest of its eight UK offices, gained a gold certification from EcoVadis last year for its ambitious sustainability programme, which earned it a place in the top 5%.
This year, the firm has maintained these while increasing its score in Environment, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement – lifting it into the top 2% of all companies reporting globally.
To achieve this, WBD made several changes over the past 12 months, including introducing a sustainable procurement strategy with clear quantitative and qualitative objectives and finalising an extensive Scope 3 carbon emissions report to help fully inform and shape its carbon reduction plans.
It has also taken action to further prevent discrimination in professional development and promotion processes while achieving a silver in Investors in People’s We Invest in Wellbeing status.
The EvoVadis recognition follows WBD’s success in The Legal 500′s Northern Powerhouse Awards, where it topped the ESG Firm of the Year category, along with gaining Planet Mark’s Data Quality Award for going “above and beyond to maximise its impact in three key areas of carbon reduction and sustainability – measure, engage and communicate”.
In addition, it was recognised as a Top 75 employer in the Social Mobility Employer Index for driving social mobility in workplace.
Womble Bond Dickinson UK chair Nick Barwood, pictured, said: “Each year the requirements to achieve the Gold banding increase, so to have retained our medal and improved our score is a fantastic achievement and is due to a huge concerted effort across teams in the business.
“As a firm, WBD aims to be a responsible business working closely to ensure we deliver the best for our people, clients and communities and EcoVadis is a vital part of assessing our responsible business activity.”
Since its launch in 2007, EcoVadis has become the world’s largest provider of business sustainability ratings, creating a global network of more than 100,000-plus rated companies.
WBD has more than 120 partners and around 450 lawyers across its eight UK offices. It also has 23 bases across the US.
