Castrén & Snellman’s climate work has entered a new phase: this summer the firm completed its first carbon footprint calculation. As a member of the UN Global Compact, the firm is committed to the UN’s sustainable development goals and to taking action against climate change.
2.9.2020
Castrén & Snellman Maps Carbon Footprint – Commits to 25% Emissions Reduction by 2025
Anna Kuusniemi-Laine
Tags
‘In order to take action, we have to know where we stand. This carbon footprint calculation will help us get a handle on our climate impact. We have a long history of developing the sustainability of our business. We were the first Finnish law firm to join the WWF’s Green Office programme, and the work we have now started to reduce our emissions is a natural next step for us’, says Managing Partner Sakari Lukinmaa.
Calculating our carbon footprint is part of our firm’s sustainability work. We were assisted in the calculation by Gaia Consulting.
EMISSIONS 750 METRIC TONS IN 2019, 25% REDUCTION TARGET BY 2025
Castrén & Snellman’s carbon footprint in 2019 was approximately 750 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e). The figure corresponds to the carbon footprint of 75 average Finns. The firm’s largest emissions sources are business travel and heating, which make up about 80% of its footprint: business travel accounts for approximately 50% and heating for approximately 30%.
‘The most important function of this calculation is to spur us on in reducing our climate impact. We have now set a comprehensive emissions reduction target. We are going to reduce our emissions by 25% from our 2019 level by 2025. We plan to start with the largest items in our footprint, which are business travel and heating’, says Castrén & Snellman’s Head of Sustainability, Anna Kuusniemi-Laine.
Curbing climate change will also take removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In addition to reducing emissions, Castrén & Snellman is now committed to offsetting its annual emissions.
‘We will include all our personnel in deciding the form that this will take’, says Kuusniemi-Laine.
The firm has previously offset its air travel emissions.
Castrén & Snellman’s carbon footprint calculation is based on the GHG Protocol standards, the globally most widely used model for calculating the climate impact of organisations.
‘One of the goals of Finland’s current Government Programme is for Finland to be carbon neutral by 2035—and every little bit can make a difference. This emissions reduction target applies to every sector, and the pressure to make climate-smart decisions is set to continue growing. A increasingly wide range of Finnish legislation has also begun taking and encouraging a climate-oriented approach. Understanding their own carbon footprint will help Castrén & Snellman better understand their clients’ climate goals’, says Anna Heino of Gaia Consulting.
MORE WORK IN REFINING THE FOOTPRINT AND MONITORING TARGETS
Moving forward, Carbon footprint calculations will now form part of Castrén & Snellman’s annual sustainability work, and the firm intends to further refine its understanding of its climate impact and monitor its emissions goals.
‘Our emissions for 2020 already look very different from last year. We intend to continually monitor our goals and are prepared to raise the bar for our targets if necessary’, says Anna Kuusniemi-Laine.
For more information, please contact:
Anna Kuusniemi-Laine, Head of Sustainability, Partner, Castrén & Snellman, tel. +358 20 7765 423
Sakari Lukinmaa, Managing Partner, Castrén & Snellman, tel. +358 20 7765 391
More information on our sustainability work.
Latest news
Latest references
A. Ahlström – ESG advisory and corporate sustainability due diligence process planning
We advised A. Ahlström in establishing a corporate sustainability due diligence process plan which incorporates best practices and tailored solutions based on our expertise within relevant business sectors. Our comprehensive ESG offering also included tailored training for members of the investment team and management team and the board of directors of several portfolio companies. ‘The ESG team at Castrén & Snellman provided us with legal and practical advice around the ESG regulatory tsunami that we need to incorporate in our ESG work,’ comments Camilla Sågbom. A. Ahlström is a family-owned industrial company, developing leading global specialist positions in Forest & Fiber and Environmental technology sectors.
Case published 5.9.2024
Vapaus Bikes Finland – Series A funding round
We represented Vapaus Bikes Finland Oy, a company offering employee benefit bikes, in its international EUR 10 million Series A funding round. The investors behind the funding are private equity investors Shift4Good and Superhero Capital Ltd as well as Tesi together with the European Guarantee Fund of the European Investment Bank. The equity-based funding will support the company’s international expansion, software development, platform automation, and the growth of its concept for the second-hand market of bikes. Vapaus Bikes Finland is at the forefront of sustainable mobility services and has been a pioneer in the Employee Benefit Bikes sector since late 2020. It has been ranked among Finland’s fastest growing companies. Shift4Good is an impact venture capital fund focused on the decarbonisation of the transportation sector. Tesi (officially Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a state-owned, market-driven investment company that invests in venture capital and private equity funds and directly in Finnish startups and growth companies.
Case published 21.8.2024
City of Rovaniemi – Former employees ordered to pay damages in an investment decision matter
We successfully acted for the City of Rovaniemi in a matter concerning offence in public office and damages claims in relation to a significant investment decision made by the city. The defendants were the city’s former municipal corporate officer, who was in an employment relationship, and a city treasurer, who was in a public-service employment relationship and acted as the supervisor of the municipal corporate officer. The criminal matter related to the City Board’s decision to invest EUR 2 million of the city’s funds in bonds offered by a newly established investment company in accordance with a decision prepared by the defendants. A significant part of the company’s operations involved quick loan business. The main legal question in the matter was whether the investment of public funds constitutes an exercise of public authority and whether regulation on offences in public office therefore becomes applicable even to a person in an employment relationship. The municipal corporate officer in an employment relationship was charged with aggravated abuse of public office based on her negligence in the preparation and presentation of the investment decision as well as based on a conflict of interest due to the fact that she had invested her own money in a company that received funding from the investment target presented to the City Board. The charges of an offence in public office against the city treasurer concerned his position as the supervisor and reporter of the city’s investment activities. He was also involved in the preparation and presentation of the City Board’s decision. The processing of the matter started in the District Court of Lapland in June 2022. In its judgment given in August 2022, the District Court stated, based among other things on our argumentation, that the investment of public funds constitutes an exercise of public authority and that regulation on offences in public office can therefore be applied to the municipal corporate officer. The District Court deemed that the conduct of the former municipal corporate officer fulfils the characteristics of abuse of public office and that the conduct of the former city treasurer fulfils the characteristics of violation of official duty with respect to the preparation of the investment decision, but the right to bring charges had become time-barred. Punishments could therefore not be imposed on the defendants, but the defendants were ordered to jointly and severally pay the city approximately EUR 114,000 in damages plus interest for late payment. The city treasurer’s share of the amount was 10%. The prosecutor accepted the judgment but the other parties appealed it to the Court of Appeal. Acting for the city, we pursued claims for both punishment and damages in the Court of Appeal. The Rovaniemi Court of Appeal processed the matter in November and December 2023. In its judgment given in June 2024, the Court of Appeal upheld the District Court’s judgment with respect to the abuse of public office and violation of official duty. The Court of Appeal deemed that the municipal corporate officer had failed in her duty to declare the conflict of interest. In addition, she had failed in her duty to ensure that the prepared decision was in compliance with the city’s investment guidelines and that it had been properly put out to tender. The Court of Appeal also found that the text of the investment proposal was insufficient and misleading and that the municipal corporate officer’s conduct was intentional. As regards the city treasurer, the Court of Appeal held that he had failed in his duty to ensure that the investment proposal to the City Board complied with the investment guidelines, that the presentation was not misleading and that risks were taken into account as required by the investment guidelines. With the judgement, the Court of Appeal took a clear position that abuse in public offices and when exercising public authority is not acceptable. The judgment is also significant as it declares that investing public funds constitutes an exercise of public authority and that the liability for acts in office therefore becomes applicable even to persons in employment relationships. In addition, a key question for the Court of Appeal to assess was defining the amount of economic damage in a matter related to investment activities. The Court of Appeal held based on our arguments that the conduct of the municipal corporate officer and the city treasurer had caused damage to the city. The Court of Appeal increased the amount of damages to EUR 210,000 with the city treasurer’s share limited to 10%. The amount was increased because the Court of Appeal deemed that the city had suffered damage not only in terms of the loss of capital but also in terms of the loss of estimated return on investment. The judgement is not final.
Case published 21.8.2024
Tesi – Investment in Sisu Auto
We advised Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) in its investment in the heavy duty vehicles company Oy Sisu Auto Ab. With this investment, Tesi became an owner in the company with a share of 24.4 per cent. Sisu Auto is a pioneer in the Nordic market in the development of heavy duty vehicles. Sisu’s core competences are in the product development and production of trucks and military vehicles. Tesi is a state-owned, market-driven investment company that invests in venture capital and private equity funds and directly in Finnish startups and growth companies. The investments managed by Tesi total 2.1 billion euros.
Case published 19.8.2024