An ongoing commitment to the environment and to taking positive action on climate change has earned Bristol-headquartered law firm Burges Salmon’s pensions team a major industry award.
The team topped the Impact on Climate category at the inaugural Pension Management Institute Pinnacle Awards, which were staged to celebrate the people and new ideas that “make a real impact in the pensions world”.
The category, one of four for which Burges Salmon was shortlisted out of a total of 13, was judged on the corporate behaviour in and around the nominees’ operations – from energy efficiency and waste management to recycling and reduction in the use of non-sustainable plastics.
Burges Salmon said its success reflected its pension team’s long-standing respect for the climate, which uses robust, science-based targets to understand how to reduce current emissions to achieve the firm’s aims, while also highlighting the extensive and market-leading advice the team provides to pensions schemes and employers, including the recent launch of an ESG pensions tool.
Burges Salmon, which employs 800 people in its Bristol HQ and London and Edinburgh offices, has set itself a target of halving total greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 against a 2019 baseline.
The firm’s environment committee, led by pensions partner Suzanne Padmore, brings together stakeholders from across the business to work together to have a positive impact on climate.
The committee oversees the firm’s continual improvement through the ISO 14001-accredited environmental management system, while the firm also has an internal network of environmental champions driving initiatives that help it achieve its environmental objectives – including raising awareness among the firm’s people and fostering positive behaviours.
Burges Salmon is also a founding member of the Legal Sustainability Alliance and the Net Zero Lawyers Alliance, a signatory to the One Planet Pledge, a member of the Bristol Green Capital Partnership climate leaders’ group and participates in the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project).
Alongside these, it invests with Trees for Life to support a reforesting, conservation and rewilding project, with offsets accredited to the UK woodland carbon code, and continues to report on its environmental performance in an annual responsible business report, which details environmental objectives, progress, case-studies and a suite of environmental performance measures.
Burges Salmon partner Richard Knight, pictured, who heads the firm’s pensions practice, said: “Winning in this category at the PMI Pinnacle Awards cements our efforts for championing environmental sustainability even further both as a firm and for our pensions scheme and employer clients.
“It is fantastic to receive our award for Impact on Climate and it’s great to see that these efforts and the combined success of the team in the past year has been recognised.”
The PMI Pinnacle Awards, which were presented at a ceremony in London on Tuesday, aim to celebrate excellence in the pensions industry under the headings of ‘people, innovation and impact’.
The three other categories in which Burges Salmon was shortlisted were Impact on Society, Innovation in New Product or Service and Team of the Year.
