Chapman Tripp First New Zealand Law Firm To Join Net Zero Lawyers Alliance

Chapman Tripp is the first New Zealand law firm to sign up to the Net Zero Lawyers Alliance (NZLA) – a collaboration of top-tier law firms committed to accelerating the transition to net zero emissions by 2050.

Chief Executive Partner Pip England says, “With part of the commitment focused on engaging with clients to achieve their own net zero goals through legal work, membership of NZLA aligns with the core of what we do bringing our legal skills to the solving of problems and applying those skills to support the net zero position many of our clients are adopting.”

The Alliance, launched in 2021 as part of London Climate Action Week, is an approved accelerator for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Race to Zero. Member firms recognise their own role in the transition towards global net zero emissions of greenhouse gases, both directly and through the legal services they provide, pledging to reduce their operational emissions by at least 50 per cent by 2030 from 2019 levels, using robust, science-based targets.

Chapman Tripp’s commitments under the NZLA aligns with the work the firm is already spearheading through its climate change legal practice led by partners Nicola Swan and Alana Lampitt. The commitments under the Alliance include:

· developing verifiable Net Zero 1.5 aligned emissions targets for review at least every five years and with a view to prioritising reductions

· offering legal services and information to facilitate clients’ decarbonisation goals consistent with net zero, through upskilling its lawyers on client decarbonisation goals, climate change law, policy and science

· continuing to engage with regulatory bodies, legal and other relevant industry associations to raise awareness of climate risk issues within the legal community, including the New Zealand Government’s net zero target

· continuing to provide pro bono resources where possible for cooperative legal initiatives, to embed decarbonisation goals into private law instruments, and

· starting to collect data to monitor the broader nature of all of the firm’s work and publish an annual operational climate action plan.

“The NZLA provides us with a framework to bring together many of the broader sustainability and impact policies that we already have in place both from a firm, and legal advisory point of view. We are proud to have joined the Alliance in order to make a difference to global climate change goals and emissions reduction targets,” stated Chapman Tripp Community Director Greer Fredricson.

Joining the NZLA builds on Chapman Tripp’s commitment to climate change initiatives, including as a partner with The Aotearoa Circle, membership with the Sustainable Business Council and Sustainable Business Network, and the firm’s emissions reduction targets, audited annually in line with Toitū's carbonreduce certification.

“We have seen a marked reduction in our own carbon footprint over the last three years. A shift towards a net zero goal for the firm, rather than focus on reductions, is the natural next step,” concluded Fredricson.

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