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Sustainability is a complex area and a ongoing focus for our firm. Our priority is to make sure that the way we operate has as little environmental impact as possible. We are looking at how we deal with waste, energy and reducing our carbon footprint, with the objective to eliminate our use if we can, reduce where possible or substitute if necessary. This is a broad approach and covers everything from how we manage our offices to the travel we undertake the decisions we make about the suppliers and products we use.
We have developed a five step climate action plan that we're using as a framework to help us improve in this key area. Some steps are long-term and will take time, others are quicker wins that we're implementing now. All are tangible, a priority for us and part of our business plan with board level support.
1. We will ask questions and be accountable
We are currently analysing our carbon footprint to understand what it is now and importantly what it was pre Covid. From our new financial year in April 2022, we will track our carbon footprint on an ongoing basis as part of our standard business reporting. This is important to us so we can understand how and where we need to improve. We will ask ourselves the tough questions and challenge our approach and behaviours to reduce our footprint as much as possible. What we can't change, we will offset.
We are tracking and working to reduce our carbon footprint. We will use a combination of changing our working practices and off-setting our carbon footprint using carbon avoidance projects. We will be using our carbon footprint data to enable us to pinpoint specific areas that we need to target. We know that our travel is a significant contributor to our carbon footprint. We will now look at the impact of our trips and introduce a 'Sustainability Sense Check' to question transport choice, business need and perceived value. We plan to be clever, use time and resources wisely and only travel when necessary.
3. We will plant a tree for every new matter we open and create a Mewburn Ellis Forest
We have decided to plant a tree for every new matter we open. The right tree in the right place, The Mewburn Ellis Forest is managed by responsible partners in a sustainable way is an important part of tackling the climate crisis. We are supporting the planting of native and biodiverse mix of tree species in planting sites around the world including the UK. These planting projects also help to support local communities and reduce poverty by employing local workers.
4. We will enable and support the sustainability conversation and take personal responsibility
We believe that showcasing the good work of our clients and ensuring there is focus on the conversation around sustainability is an important part of the puzzle. We have recently launched our Green IP Report. and are talking extensively about this topic in our sustainability blogs and Green Tech spotlight page. We also plan to create an internal Sustainability Group made up of people that want to get involved with this initiative within the firm who can help identify and drive forward sustainability initiatives at the firm.
5. We will support sustainability charities as part of our Forward Community Programme
As part of our community programme we donate a percentage of our funds each year to sustainable charities to support and reach areas that we cannot directly impact. We already give 1% of our profits to charity each year which amounts to over £200,000 and believe it's important that some of this money supports sustainability goals too.
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We're proud to be the first IP firm in the UK IP sector to have been awarded a silver medal by sustainability ratings platform EcoVadisWe're delighted that Mewburn Ellis have been rated Silver by EcoVadis the sustainability ratings agency. This puts us in the top 25% of the 90,000 companies worldwide that have achieved the rating and the top 19% in the legal and accounting industry. |
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650 TONNES OF CARBON REDUCED SO FARAs part of our commitment to be carbon neutral by 2025 we are working to reduce and offset our carbon use. We have chosen to reduce 650tCO2e of carbon so far via the following carbon reduction projects:
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We plant a tree for every new matter we openA FOCUS ON CLIMATE & BIODIVERSITYWe're proud to be working with environmental organisation Ecologi. They facilitate the funding of carbon offset projects and tree planting around the world. Their mission is to reduce 50% of global CO2 emissions by 2040 and they responsibly plant billions of trees every year. We have decided to plant a tree through the Ecologi platform for every new matter we open. We've planted over 33,433 trees in total so far. For 2022-23 we planted 12,790 trees to 31st March 2023. Planting trees is part of the answer to helping our planet and will have a longer term effect on carbon emissions. It works side by side with the other climate action projects we are supporting and the actions we are taking to operate more sustainably. We chose to work with Ecologi as they have a focus on reforesting and on responsible reforestation. They plant the right trees in the right place and effectively protect those trees for the long term too. We are supporting the planting of native, biodiverse tree species in planting sites around the world including the UK. 10% of our trees are planted in the UK through the Future Forest Company and 90% abroad though Eden Reforestation Projects, because our money goes further and has greater impact overseas. These planting projects are typically mangroves, which grow faster and offset three times more carbon than UK trees. They also support coastal ecosystems and help restore sea life, supporting fish and marine animals too. There is also a broader positive impact at a human level too as these projects help support local communities and reduce poverty by employing local workers and providing them with food and materials. |
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The special report talks about our approach to our Forward Community Programme and specifically includes the following:
Our report examines the role of patents in making innovative ‘green’ technologies into a reality as well as how the patent landscape can be used to identify opportunities for partnering, collaboration and investment.
We share our enthusiasm and admiration for commercially-focused innovation across a diverse range of technologies, from repurposing carbon dioxide to make protein-rich foods, to the multi-faceted approach to a circular plastics economy. We also discuss the tantalising prospect of AI-mediated renewable energy supply, and the harnessing of battery tech from the EV boom to drive energy efficiency in consumer devices. This report reflects our passion for technology solutions that tackle our shared global challenge.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is important to us. The success of our business relies upon our ability to attract, train and retain the best people. We support diversity throughout our business and make every effort to create and maintain an inclusive culture. We recognise our responsibilities in the community and encourage our people to engage in activities that better society and build trust in our local communities. As a forward-looking firm, we understand the importance of minimising our environmental impact. Therefore we are committed to facilitating environmentally friendly working practices by our people and in our offices.
The concept of CSR is in our opinion under developed in our profession. We don’t want to just do what is required like many other firms - but go above and beyond. We have built our business over 150 years by looking ahead and adapting and changing at the right times. Thinking about the future of our planet and society, being a good corporate citizen and doing our bit to make a difference is a high priority for the firm. Our recent rebrand was to capture what we believe is at the very heart of our firm – being forward-looking. To be a truly forward-looking firm, community must be at the very heart of our culture. We are at the beginning of an exciting journey to develop what we believe will be a vital community programme to deliver our CSR initiatives. Our Forward Community Programme covers the following key areas:
Inclusivity
Making sure that equality and diversity are celebrated. We want a firm that has diversity of thought, ideas and viewpoints and where all our people, regardless of their background, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability or sexual orientation feel they belong. Inclusion and diversity is high on the agenda for Mewburn Ellis. It’s part of our business plan and is being driven by our management board. For us, inclusion and diversity is more than just a tick-box exercise – it is an issue that’s long been on our agenda and ingrained in our business plan and imbedded in our culture.
We've come a long way in this important area. We have undertaken an audit of our existing culture, processes and practices to help us develop a strategic I&D framework that explores four key areas. Inclusivity for us is about the people we hire, the careers we nurture, the culture we build and the relationships we have with our clients. We have already started to make changes in these areas. We have created a new board level role of Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer as well as launched an Inclusion & Diversity Collaboration Group. We have rolled out training to all our leaders, signed up to the IP Inclusive Senior Leader's Pledge and are also now proud to be using Rare Recruitment's Contextual Recruitment System (CRS) which allows us to consider an applicant's achievements in the context in which they were gained.
Community
For us this means nurturing our people, helping everyone develop and contributing to the wider communities in which we operate as well as supporting worthy causes with time and money. As a firm we have made a commitment to donate 1% of our profits to charity as well as over 300 days of time to good causes. We support charities at a firmwide and local office level.
This year we have chosen to support Coronavirus related charities at a firmwide level and our people have chosen a local charity for each office. We have also given all our people one community day per year to enable them to support causes they care about. In addition we operate a Give As You Earn (GAYE) scheme so our people can donate to charities of their choice in a simple and tax effective way. Our combined community effort amounts to more than £200,000 of investment and over 300 days of time donated to good causes. Find out more below about our plans for charitable giving of both time and money.
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Supporting sustainable charities
As part of our community programme we've donated £5,000 to The Ocean Conservation Trust and £5,000 to The Climate Coalition from our Forward Fund to support them in their environmental work. The Ocean Conservation Trust is working towards healthier oceans, which is a key part of the climate change puzzle. Over 20 years ago, a dynamic group of marine scientists, researchers, educators and divers came together to create a charity that would showcase some of the amazing habitats and animals found in a healthy and vibrant Ocean. The Climate Coalition has a vision of a future where the UK no longer contributes to climate change. Their aim is to clean up the air we breathe, have warmer homes powered by cleaner, cheaper energy, restore our green spaces and make it easier for to live in a cleaner, greener world that future generations can enjoy. |
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Partner, Patent Attorney, Sustainability Champion
Chief Financial & Operating Officer
Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer
Managing Partner, Patent Attorney
Mewburn Ellis Forward is a biannual publication that celebrates the best of innovation and exploration. We run regular columns in the magazine on inclusivity and many of our articles have a focus on sustainability.
Our magazine is printed on paper that has been sourced from sustainably managed forests which adhere to environmentally approved standards. This paper has less carbon footprint than recycled paper. The full magazine, including the cover, can be recycled and the wrapper that is used to protect the magazine is made from starch-based biopolymers, meaning it is compostable.
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