The Net Zero Lawyers Alliance (NZLA) recognises that, in accordance with the best available science, there is an urgent need to accelerate the global transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
The NZLA further recognises the need for commercial law firms and lawyers to play a role in helping to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and enable a just transition.
The NZLA will:
- support the goal of net zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050 or sooner, in line with efforts to limit global average temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels
- amplify the number of law firms that are members of the Race to Zero, including those in developing states
- support the alignment of commercial clients’ legal contracts and terms with net zero, as well as their enforcement.
NZLA members therefore specifically commit to:
a) Developing verifiable net zero emissions reduction targets that align with 1.5°C and supporting law firms in developing states to do the same. These targets will be reviewed at least every five years and, in meeting them, members will prioritise gross emissions reductions and limit the use of high integrity removal units to offsetting any residual greenhouse gas emissions (i.e. those that are not feasible to abate).
b) Working with clients to offer legal services that, wherever possible, align with net zero and facilitate their clients’ decarbonisation goals. This will be achieved through:
- Enhanced capacity building and training of commercial lawyers, and
- Industry-wide collaboration to facilitate systemic change in law and legal practice that supports the transition to net zero through projects and initiatives.
c) Setting an interim target for building capacity and implementing training for commercial lawyers within their firm. This training should be in accordance with the NZLA training modules (or their equivalent) and its impact on the firm’s legal services should be monitored.
d) Setting an interim target for participation in collaborative initiatives that aim to facilitate systemic change in law and legal practice that enables the transition to net zero and monitoring the impact of this participation on their firm’s legal services. These collaborative initiatives could include NZLA Accelerator Groups.
e) Continuing to use the NZLA to look for innovative ways to work together cooperatively to advance commercial law instruments and services, including in close collaboration with the UNFCCC Race to Zero and its official Partnerships.
To fulfil these commitments:
Each NZLA member’s operations must achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 or sooner (under commitment a). This will require each member to:
1. Set interim targets for 2030 and 2035 that are independently verified and consistent with sector-specific science-based pathways consistent with the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on global warming of 1.5°C.
2. Take account of Scope 1 and 2 emissions and, where material, Scope 3 emissions (e.g. employee commuting or business travel).
3. Prioritise gross emissions reductions and ensure that offsets are only used to meet their targets where:
a. those offsets have high integrity and represent an investment in long-term carbon removal; and
b. no technologically and/or financially viable alternatives to eliminate emissions are available.
Legal services offered across each NZLA member’s commercial client base (under commitment b) should:
4. Offer clients information on how to embed their own decarbonisation goals through commercial law, wherever possible. This information may be provided in relation to individual and project-wide legal contracts, corporate structuring, deal structuring, procurement and public-private partnerships, and/or government permitting and licensing.
5. Take into account climate legal risk, including any existing and/or anticipated regulatory and litigation risk (e.g. mandatory and non-mandatory reporting and disclosure obligations based on TCFD and associated corporate governance risk). Members will also work to assist their clients to foresee the net zero related regulatory changes on the horizon, so that they can anticipate and prepare for such changes in a way that is optimal to their success.
6. Collaborate in systemic change initiatives in law and practice that facilitate the transition to net zero, noting that this collaboration should include the legal profession as well as other industries and sectors.
7. Upskill commercial lawyers and support professionals within their firms on their clients’ decarbonisation goals, climate change law, policy and science, recognising that building this capacity is critical to being able to offer legal services that align with and facilitate clients’ decarbonisation goals.
8. Engage with key actors and initiatives to ensure that standard industry practises for lawyers and legal services develop in a manner that is consistent with achieving global net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 or sooner. These actors and initiatives should include regulatory bodies, legal initiatives and other relevant industry associations.
9. Continue to actively engage in cooperative legal initiatives to embed decarbonisation goals in private law instruments, with a goal to formulating modern, fair, harmonized rules on commercial transactions, including conventions, model laws and rules. Where possible, this should include the provision of pro bono resources.
10. Continue to:
a. stay apprised of minimum Race to Zero criteria as they evolve
b. work collaboratively to define what it means for law firms to be fully aligned with net zero, including the legal services provided.
Accountability
11. Regularly (and annually at a minimum) make detailed and accurate information (disclosures) publicly available. This could include:
a. Progress towards the firm’s net zero targets and interim targets
b. The relevant data and data sources used, as well as their limitations
c. The frameworks and methodologies used, noting that the approach should be consistent with the United Nations’ Race to Zero criteria (e.g. through Business Alliance for 1.5ºC, SME Hub or B Corp).
d. Any carbon credits used to meet the firm’s net zero and interim targets
e. Firm policies (including on matter engagement) and transition plans
f. Climate-related risks and opportunities faced by the firm
g. Key decisions in developing and executing the firm’s transition plan
h. Where the firm has been unable to conform with best practice.
i. Establish appropriate governance mechanisms that monitor and regularly review the firm’s commitments and transition plans, as well as the progress that they are making.
NZLA members recognise the need for collaborative initiatives that develop methodologies and support clients to take steps towards achieving net zero. Members will collaborate with each other – and their clients – via such initiatives, so that clients have access to best practice, robust science-based approaches, standardised methodologies and improved data, through which to deliver these commitments through legal services.
NZLA members also acknowledge that the ability for law firms and lawyers to align their legal services with the NZLA commitments and facilitate their clients’ decarbonisation depends on the mandates agreed with clients, as well as the relevant regulatory environments.
These commitments are made in the expectation that governments will follow through on their own commitments to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement, including increasing the ambition of their Nationally Determined Contributions. These commitments are also made in the context of members’ legal duties to their clients and unless otherwise prohibited by applicable law. In some sectors for which we provide legal services, agreed net zero methodologies do not yet exist.
Where the ability to align their legal services with net zero by 2050 is currently constrained, NZLA members commit to embark with determination and ambition on a journey, and to challenge and seek to overcome the constraints we face.
