Operating responsibly

As a global law firm, we recognize the importance of a healthy environment and are working to improve our sustainable management operations.

Leaders across the Firm are working to understand the risks presented by climate change, reduce our environmental impact and devise a strategy to hold ourselves accountable. Our Environmental Sustainability Team, which is part of our Responsible Business Committee, leads on ESG and sustainability efforts across our operations. It includes a core team of our General Counsels, partners, associates and Business Services professionals from different locations and business functions.

Leveraging the knowledge of our Environment & Climate Change Practice, Sustainability & Responsible Business Practice and Environmental Sustainability Team, we share best practices across our global network that reduce the environmental footprint of our operations, our employees and our suppliers.

Our annual sustainability report shares how we as a Firm are addressing climate change.

Read our 2024 Environmental Sustainability Report.

Our Global Environmental Impact Policy sets out the Firm's high-level goals for implementing sustainable operations. The following principles guide our operations to ensure we reduce our environmental impacts.

• Comply with all regulatory requirements and voluntary codes of practice applicable to each office
• Reduce pollution from our activities and implement sustainable waste management practices to minimize the quantity of waste we produce and maximize the amount of waste we recycle
• Identify key resources such as water, paper and energy used by each office, and implement measures to ensure that we use those resources efficiently
• Manage our carbon emissions by continuing to improve the energy efficiency of our premises and effectively measuring the environmental impacts of our business travel

We work with our suppliers and employees to improve performance by promoting awareness of sustainability issues and environmental management best practices.

White & Case is continually striving to improve GHG performance, drive emissions reductions and align to best practices. This year we have advanced our GHG assessment methodology. This included collecting actual data from 2022 and restating our emissions in line with our updated methodology aligned to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) and Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) requirements, as the Firm has chosen 2022 as its base year for its emissions reduction strategy. The following table shows our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions from 2022 to 2023.

Our environmental policies reflect a Firmwide commitment to sustainability, incorporating measures that promote resource conservation and enhance operational efficiencies. These policies not only help minimize our environmental footprint, but also underscore our dedication to integrating sustainable practices into every aspect of our operations.

• Our Environmental Management System sets out core practices and formalizes plans in each office to continue to reduce our environmental footprint
• Our Global Office Design Guidelines include sustainability principles to promote green practices in all aspects of office design
• Our Sustainable Operations Guidelines provide each office with a practical guide to running our office operations in line with best practices for sustainability
• We have adopted many practices to reduce single-use plastics
• Our annual Global Green Campaign, established in 2013, informs our people about important environmental issues, steps the Firm is taking and ways we can all play a part in finding solutions

For more detail about our activities, please contact the Responsible Business Team.

We actively collaborate and exchange best practices with industry peers.

• We are a member of the Legal Sustainability Network (formally known as the Law Firm Sustainability Network) in the US and are a member of the Legal Sustainability Alliance in the UK. These memberships reinforce our dedication to sustainability within the legal sector through increased collaboration and knowledge sharing.
• We are signatories to the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations' (CGA) Green Pledge, a global initiative to raise awareness of the carbon footprint of international arbitration and to minimize its environmental impact by promoting sustainable best practices and procedures. The CGA focuses on innovative technology and procedures to deliver more sustainable outcomes.
• The Firm is an active participant in the City of London Law Society ESG Working Group.