Commitment to achieving Net Zero
Hempsons LLP (“Hempsons”) is committed to meeting its compliance, legal, regulatory obligations and to protect the environment both directly through its own initiatives and services and also indirectly using its influence to affect the practices of others.
Hempsons is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2040.
Baseline Emissions Footprint
Baseline emissions are a record of the greenhouse gases (GHG) that have been produced in the past and were produced prior to the introduction of any strategies to reduce emissions. Baseline emissions are the reference point against which emissions reduction can be measured.
| Baseline* year:
12 months to 30th June 2023 |
|||||||||||||
| Additional details relating to the Baseline Emissions calculations. | |||||||||||||
| The GHG inventory 1st July 2022 to 30th June 2023 presented in this Carbon Reduction Plan represents Hempsons LLP’s baseline emissions footprint.
The baseline emissions (FY23) pertaining to Scope 3 Upstream Transport and Distribution, have been restated during FY24. We have updated our methodology from applying the 2016 World Input-Output Database (WIOD) to the 2020 EXIOBASE database in order to enhance the robustness of our baseline year emissions and reflect the same methodological approach applied this year, ensuring like-for-like comparisons. In addition, the baseline emissions associated with Scope 3 Waste have been restated to better reflect actual emissions associated with waste from our facilities. |
|||||||||||||
| Baseline year emissions: 213.5 tCO2e: | |||||||||||||
| EMISSIONS** | TOTAL (tCO2e) | ||||||||||||
| Scope 1 – fugitive emissions from refrigerant use on site | 12.0 | ||||||||||||
| Scope 2 – electricity consumption | 55.10 | ||||||||||||
| Scope 3 |
|
||||||||||||
| Total emissions | 213.50 | ||||||||||||
*Baseline emissions are a record of the greenhouse gases that have been produced in the past and were produced prior to the introduction of any strategies to reduce emissions. Baseline emissions are the reference point against which emissions reduction can be measured.
**As defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP).
Current Emissions Reporting
| Reporting Year: 1st July 2024 to 30th June 2025 | |
| EMISSIONS | TOTAL (tCO2e) |
| Scope 1 – fugitive emissions from refrigerant use on site | 10.7 |
| Scope 2 – electricity consumption | 27.1 |
| Scope 3 – waste generated in operations | 11.4 |
| Scope 3 – upstream transportation and distribution | 3.0 |
| Scope 3 – business travel | 1.4 |
| Scope 3 – employee commuting | 99.3 |
| Scope 3 – downstream transportation and distribution (*Hempsons – is a law firm and does not have any downstream transportation) | 0* |
| Total emissions | 152.8 |
Emissions reduction targets
As part of our commitment to reduce our environmental footprint, Hempsons has committed to reach Net Zero by 2040.
In order to continue our progress to achieving this, Hempsons has adopted the following carbon reduction targets;
- We project that carbon emissions will decrease over the next five years to 138 tCO2e by 2029, as we continue to implement measures to reduce our impact.
- This is a reduction of 35%.
Progress against these targets can be seen in the graph below:
Carbon reduction projects
Completed carbon reduction initiatives
The following environmental management measures and projects have been completed or implemented in the reporting period.
The carbon emission reduction achieved by these initiatives equates to 61 tCO2e, a 28% reduction against our 2022/23 baseline.
Our commitment to retaining ISO 14001 Environmental Management certification across all 5 office locations has helped us monitor our energy consumption and waste production closely.
Monitoring and measurement of the environmental impact our aspects and impacts continue to include reference to:
- Paper consumption across all five offices supporting our paperless operations;
- 100% usage across all five offices of recycled paper/paper from sustainable/responsible sources;
- The impact of our printers including:
- Trees consumed by our printing;
- CO2 produced (Kg);
- Equivalent bulb hours;
- Confidential Waste monitored with reference to:
- Trees saved;
- Landfill saved (M3);
- Kilowatt hours saved;
- CO2 saved (Kg) and
- Water saved (Litres)
Relocating our Newcastle, Southampton and London offices to more energy efficient buildings has contributed greatly to our 35% reduction in scope 2 emissions. This followed the successful Manchester office move in the previous reporting period, which generated no additional landfill waste.
Moreover, our emissions from operational waste have decreased from last year despite the aforementioned moves; we mitigated these relocation-related emissions through waste reduction and recycling initiatives.
Hempsons continues to offer a cycle to work scheme with some relocated offices also accommodating cycle stores and EV charging points. This, along with hybrid working and virtual meetings, has helped reduce our business travel and employee commuting emissions compared to the previous reporting period by 67% and 7%, respectively.
Finally, better engagement with our couriers has improved our upstream transportation & distribution emissions by 9% from FY24.
Future carbon reduction initiatives
In the future Hempsons aim to implement further measures such as:
- work closely with and influence our supply chain as part of our carbon reduction commitment;
- raise awareness and actively promote our commitment to environmental aspects which we directly control and can influence;
- continue to engage and encourage our staff to participate in initiatives across the business and in their home life (supported by an in-house Social Value and Inclusion Advisor);
- upskilling key personnel with carbon literacy training to assist in the delivery and maintenance of carbon reduction projects;
Declaration and Sign Off
This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 006 and associated guidance and reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans.
Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard[1] and uses the appropriate Government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting[2].
Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been reported in accordance with SECR requirements, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions have been reported in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard[3].
This Carbon Reduction Plan has been reviewed and signed off by Hempsons Management Board.
Signed on behalf of Hempsons LLP:
Graham Lea
Managing Partner, Hempsons
Date: 16 December 2025
[1]https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard
[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting