Contributors
Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has been recognised for its commitment to the ESG agenda after winning two awards at the inaugural The Legal 500 ESG Awards.
The awards celebrate the very best ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives across the UK legal market – private practice, in-house and the Bar. The prestigious event was held in London last night (April 24) and saw organisations and individuals recognised for their efforts to bring about change across all aspects of ESG, including diversity and inclusion and environmental and sustainability strategy.
WBD's winners were Partner Jon Bower, who won 'Environmental/Sustainability: Private Practice Champion', and Senior Responsible Business Manager Charlotte von Sicard, who was named 'ESG Rising Star of the year', which recognises individuals in the industry who are contributing across various areas of ESG.
Bristol-based Jon is Partner Lead for Net Zero and the driving force behind environmental change across the business. Since taking on this role, WBD has reduced its measured emissions (scopes 1, 2 and selected scope 3) by more than 50% since the baseline year (2019/20). As well as setting the strategy and direction for the firm's target to achieve net zero by 2030, Jon has advised clients on their own net zero projects for over 20 years.
As Senior Responsible Business Manager, Charlotte has transformed our sustainability practices, from the creation of an internal governance structure to improving WBD's EcoVadis Sustainability Rating – putting the firm in the top two per cent of companies reporting globally.
Key achievements that Charlotte has led include the introduction of a clear governance structure for the responsible business programme including WBD's six key areas of focus (environment, community engagement, diversity, equity and inclusion, social mobility, wellbeing and governance), and the introduction of metrics for Responsible Business activities to understand and measure WBD's performance, and compare this to the previous financial year.
Sally Dallow, the firm’s Partner Lead for Responsible Business, said:
“We're extremely proud to be recognised as a firm leading the way in ESG strategy. Womble Bond Dickinson is committed to creating better places to live, work and do business and we're delighted to be presented with these awards. This latest success is testament to the work Charlotte and Jon are doing to build sustainable practices within WBD. These awards are the result of a lot of hard work, and I'd like to personally thank them and our teams for the amazing work they do."
