Lawyers at UK firm to be fined for flying to meetings

Lawyers at a UK legal firm will be fined for flying during business trips in an attempt to meet a net zero target.

Shoosmiths, which has around 1,000 employees in 14 offices across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, will issue lawyers with a £200 levy if they travel by aircraft to meetings.

The money will be added to a carbon fund dedicated to turning the law firm green.

It is part of a push to meet a zero emissions goal by 2025.

According to a report in The Times, senior partners at the firm are offering special bonuses for staff who help meet the firm’s carbon emissions targets.

Lawyers will not have to pay the fines personally, as the levy will be taken from travel budgets, but breaches will be recorded.

A spokesman told The Times the policy was not designed to stop lawyers flying for business completely, “but to ensure our people stop and think about whether they need to”.

Separately, the UK’s financial regulator has moved to clamp down on the practice of greenwashing.

In September, dozens of lawyers signed an open letter accusing many of the world’s biggest law firms of “greenwashing”, by talking up their net zero aims while representing polluters and fossil fuel companies.

Now, the Financial Conduct Authority has proposed new rules from 2024 for funds and their managers to prevent consumers being misled by companies exaggerating claims about environmentally friendly investments.

Trillions of dollars globally have flowed into investments touting their environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials, but rules on what constitutes ESG are patchy.

The market for UK-listed responsible investment funds grew 64 per cent in 2021 to reach £79 billion pounds ($89.34 billion), the Financial Conduct Authority said.

Britain wants to bolster its global role in green finance and the FCA proposed a package of measures, including “sustainability labels” for investment products, and restrictions on how terms like ESG, 'green' or sustainable can be used.

Products will have disclosures to help consumers understand key sustainability features, with a more detailed level of disclosures for institutional investors.

The package also proposes a more general anti-greenwashing rule to cover marketing of products which all firms regulated by the FCA must comply with.

Lorraine Johnston, a financial lawyer at Ashurst, said the package marks a significant shift in rhetoric from incentivising the shift of money towards sustainable investments, to now minimising the risk of greenwashing.

“The new proposals place further burdens on fund managers who are trying to do the right thing but who now face a hodge podge of international disclosure requirements,” Ms Johnston said.

The EU is already finalising a package of measures to combat greenwashing and the US is also writing new rules.

The FCA says its proposals are a “starting point” for a regime that will be expanded and evolved over time.

“Greenwashing misleads consumers and erodes trust in all ESG products,” said Sacha Sadan, director of environment, social and governance at the FCA.

“This places the UK at the forefront of sustainable investment internationally.”

A public consultation on the proposals is open until January.

The rules will be finalised by mid-2023 but will not come into force until at least June 2024 to give industry time to adjust.