Responsible business

We are a forerunner of sustainable business in the legal services industry. We promote equality, diversity and the meaningfulness of work in our field and fight climate change. Our firm has changed with the world many times over the course of its 135-year history. This legacy is the foundation for our sustainability work today.

We use internationally recognised tools in our sustainability work. We are the first Finnish law firm to join the UN Global Compact initiative. Our activities are guided by our code of conduct.

We have used the UN’s sustainable development goals as the basis for our own sustainability work. We want to play a role in promoting equality (goal 5). Work to fight climate change concerns us all (goal 13). As attorneys, we promote the rule of law (goal 16).

Balance in life

Work-life balance is a burning question in the legal services industry. According to a survey conducted by the Finnish Bar Association, both women and men find the workload as an attorney burdensome. Workload is clearly the most common reason that people of both genders leave the field.

We want to support our employees in every stage of life. In 2019, we initiated a development programme aimed at making it easier for our employees to balance daily life and work by changing attitudes, day-to-day practices and goals.

To us, equality goes beyond equality between the genders. We treat everyone equally and ensure all of our employees have equal opportunities to advance in the careers and develop their expertise. We have zero tolerance for discrimination.

Mitigating our climate impact

We contribute to a cleaner future by seeking to minimise our effect on the environment. We pay particular attention to our climate impact.

Each year, we calculate our carbon footprint in accordance with the GHG Protocol, covering all our relevant emission categories.

We have succeeded in bringing emissions from our own operations and energy consumption (scope 1 and scope 2 emissions) down to almost zero. In 2020, we set ourselves a target in line with the Science Based Targets initiative to reduce these emissions by at least 50% from 2019 levels by 2030. We achieved this target in 2023, when the emissions from our own operations and energy consumption had been reduced by 99% from the 2019 baseline. This reduction is thanks to a transition to emission-free energy.

Practically all our emissions are generated upstream in the value chain (scope 3).

We support climate action outside our own value chain by acquiring verified carbon units from the voluntary carbon market.

C&S is a WWF-certified Green Office. This means that we strive to reduce our ecological footprint according to the criteria of the Green Office programme. We joined the programme in 2009 as the first Finnish law firm to do so.

We are part of the Net Zero Lawyers Alliance, an international network of law firms that seeks to harness the law and legal expertise in order to accelerate the transition to net zero. We are a member of the Climate Leadership Coalition, a Nordic climate business network founded in Finland that promotes systemic, market-driven solutions to the climate crisis. We also provide pro bono legal support to the network as its pro bono partner.