FY 24/25 - Report
Introduction
Robust ESG and non-financial reporting is central to achieving our responsible business objectives.
Providing a clear, data-driven view of our progress enables better transparency and accountability to our stakeholders. This insight enables us to identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement, driving continuous progress against our commitments. We publish a comprehensive annual performance summary aligned with our financial year, and as the quality and depth of our data evolve, our reporting will reflect this improvement.
Carbon emissions and energy consumption
Firmwide emissions (tC02e)
Intensity metrics (tC02e)
Global energy consumption (MWh)
Footnote
The above shows Bird & Bird’s firmwide emissions and is calculated according to the GHG Protocol Standards below:
- The GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (WBCSD/WRI Revised Edition 2015) for Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions
- GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance (An amendment to the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard (WRI 2015) for Scope 2 GHG emissions
- The Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard (WBCSD/WRI 2011) for Scope 3 GHG emissions
We use the operational control approach to determine our inventory boundary and collect data on all business activities - all the scope 3 categories relevant to Bird & Bird are measured and reported above. Two methodologies are used to calculate Scope 2 emissions; a location-based method which reflects the average emission intensity of grids on which energy consumption occurs, and a market-based method which reflects emissions from electricity that companies have purposely chosen (or lack of choice).
Estimations are made when data is not available for an office by leveraging either historical data to trend/make accurate estimations in cases where actual historical data is available or by estimating using facility information (such as square footage) and publicly available data (average energy costs in country/location) to make informed estimates where no actual data is available.
Our carbon accounting is administered by a third party, Watershed, who use their Comprehensive Environmental Data Archive (CEDA) methodology, to calculate our emissions across 60,000 emission factors, 400 industries and 149 countries.
We have a threshold to recalculate our base year emissions if there are significant changes to our GHG inventory following the guidance given in the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and Scope 3 Standard. Significant is defined as a change or series of changes that impact the base year inventory by more than 5%.
The GHG Protocol requires Scope 3 categories to account for the Scope 1 and 2 emissions of the activities they cover. For upstream categories (3.1–3.8), inclusion of well-to-tank WTT and transmission and distribution (T&D) is mandatory; for downstream categories (3.9–3.15), it is optional. Watershed includes these upstream energy emissions across all Scope 3 categories as best practice and are therefore included in our emission figures above.
Comparability to FY24
Under current guidance from the GHG Protocol and our third-party assurers, our European football tournament has now been excluded from our inventory. Additionally, we have opened a new office in Tokyo, Japan and have collected data as best as we can for this financial period, we have also included facility information for a serviced office in Istanbul, Türkiye and in certain locations our office space has increased. However, none of these changes meet the significant threshold for recalculation purposes outlined above.
Additionally, in FY25, we observed a significant increase in gas consumption at our UK (London) office, a 22.92% rise compared to FY24. Emissions have been calculated using our standard evidence-based methodology, relying on supplier invoices to ensure accuracy and consistency. Given the scale of the increase, we are currently investigating the cause with our energy supplier. Any necessary adjustments will be reflected retrospectively in our FY26 reporting, once the investigation is complete.
Climate change
Employee health, safety and wellbeing
Footnote
We recognise that we are responsible for promoting responsible attitudes towards Health & Safety at Work (H&SAW) and will ensure or take responsibility to ensure any risk identified through Risk Assessments (RA) is mitigated or managed, including winter RA, Young Person’s RA and lone working RA as well as any other relevant to an individual’s role. It is the responsibility of all our people to remain aware and keep up to date on H&SAW policies.
Our policies and assessments mean we protect the 'health, safety and welfare' at work of all our people, as well as others on our premises, including temporary staff, casual workers, the self-employed, clients, visitors and the general public.
Furthermore, mental health and wellbeing forms part of our D&I strategy. Our pledge to the Mindforward Alliance Leadership Pledge enhances our focus and enables us to collaborate with other companies who are also passionate about supporting a mentally healthy workforce. Over the coming months we will be looking at how we can build momentum on this topic, both at a global and local level, including through our existing commitments such as the Mindful Business Charter (UK).
Training and skills development
Global curriculum
We offer a comprehensive global curriculum designed to continuously support lawyers and business services professionals in their career and development. It offers training sessions and online resources. The curriculum is tailored to different career stages, alongside transition assistance programmes that supports individuals in navigating career changes. Hours of training provided:
Flagship programmes
Our flagship learning and development programmes are tailored for a select group of individuals, identified through nomination or voluntary participation, and are offered in addition to our global curriculum to provide deeper, targeted development opportunities.
Footnote
This overview reflects the total hours contributed by our people to our training and education curriculum. While there are some gaps in the data due to variations in how training time is recorded across different offices, the figures presented here capture most learning hours logged through our Training Management System (TMS). These figures relate to global training only, therefore training that is provided locally within each of our offices has not been included. Our system does not presently allow for a breakdown of training by gender and/or age, we are hoping to improve this over time. Please note that subsequent hours of training recorded throughout this report are inclusive of the overall hours recorded and not in addition to them.
Human rights
Footnote
We are committed to upholding the United Nations Global Compact principles on human rights, including the responsibility to support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights and to ensure we are not complicit in human rights abuses. Our approach is underpinned by a range of policies and processes, including our Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Policy, our Modern Slavery Statement in accordance with the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, our Ethics and Compliance Policy, Diversity and Inclusion Policy, and our policies on discrimination, harassment, and bullying - all supported by our Code of Conduct. These standards extend to our supply chain through our Supplier Code of Conduct. The training hours referenced above encompass a variety of human rights topics, including modern slavery, harassment, and diversity and inclusion.
Diversity and inclusion
Workforce
Gender
Age
Footnote
The above data relates to the gender and age within our global operations. We continue to work towards enhancing the consistency and scope of our global reporting to include additional diversity metrics of our entire workforce where possible. Our new global HR system which was introduced in September 2025 will support with this. Further D&I data specific to the UK only, can be found in our UK Pay Gap Report and UK Diversity Data Report.
Privacy, data protection and cyber security
Footnote
All the information we handle is classified according to our documented Information Classification Policy, which has three levels of classification: Public, Internal (includes all client information), and Restricted (any information which is held behind information barriers).
The usage of information is subject to the firm's Acceptable Use Policy. A full inventory of information assets is kept by the IT teams. Procedures are in place and are rigorously carried out for the return of equipment, including the secure erasure and reuse of storage media, or its disposal.
All client information is maintained within our Document Management System (DMS). We use iManage Work which provides for the logical separation of individual client-matter workspaces. Our Document Management system is closed by default which means only those working on a matter can see its content. Any development or testing environments are fully separated from the production environment, with strict controls in place to prevent any transfer of information between the different environments.
We use the latest firewalls, anti-malware protection and network infrastructure to protect against malware across our infrastructure and devices. All equipment is maintained according to the supplier recommendations, and in fully supported configurations.
Sustainable procurement
Footnote
Sustainable procurement remains a key area of focus for the firm, underpinning our commitment to being a responsible business while ensuring we deliver the highest quality service to our clients. We will continue to engage proactively with our suppliers, particularly around their environmental credentials, their approaches to managing child labour and broader human rights issues and how they manage anti-corruption. While our supply chain is generally considered low risk, our modern slavery assessment has identified certain countries where risks may be elevated. We have also introduced a new supplier onboarding questionnaire designed to capture the most relevant information, including insights into supply chain composition and diversification.
Before rolling out our pilot supplier engagement programme, we held two sustainable procurement training sessions for our Office Managers and local COOs, who are predominantly the main buyer of goods and services locally. These sessions were attended by 15 key buyers of goods and services, representing 68% of our offices (excluding Tokyo which was not an office at the time).
Although our contracts do not currently include specific environmental or societal clauses, all suppliers are expected to adhere to our global Supplier Code of Conduct. We will continue to monitor this approach as part of our wider responsible business objectives.
Client representation
Talent attraction and retention
Employee engagement
Length of service
Starters
Leavers
Promotions
Footnote
We support employee attraction and retention through a range of locally managed policies and benefits designed to meet the diverse needs of our workforce and comply with local legislation. These include overtime policies, family-friendly programmes such as maternity, paternity, and adaptive parents leave, and agile working arrangements. Our promotions process is fair, transparent, and communicated in advance of the annual cycle. Additionally, our global partner allocation process evaluates contributions across key dimensions - building the firm for the future, delivering work, developing work, and winning clients - to ensure recognition is aligned with long-term value creation. Please note that our promotions are effective from 1st May 2025, not 30th April 2025 and therefore this is reflected in the data above.
Anti-bribery and corruption
Footnote
We are committed to upholding the Tenth Principle of the United Nations Global Compact, which states that “Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.” Our firm maintains a zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption, supported by a suite of internal policies outlined in the materiality section of this report. We provide anti-bribery and corruption training to employees at all levels and have appointed a dedicated Money Laundering Reporting Officer to oversee our compliance efforts and ensure continuous improvement.
Pro bono and legal aid
Footnote
Pro bono work plays a vital role in supporting the local communities in which we operate and reflects our broader commitment to responsible business. Over the past 12 months, we have evolved our approach to pro bono engagement, with further details available in the Community Impact section of this report. We continue to identify larger, cross-border opportunities while actively participating in pro bono networks and community initiatives.
The majority of our pro bono efforts align with the seven UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that guide our responsible business strategy. Additionally, we have supported three nature-based projects totalling 70 hours and provided 45 hours of direct support to individuals. While most pro bono hours are captured in the table above, some contributions remain unaccounted for due to previous tracking limitations. Our updated processes aim to ensure more accurate reporting going forward. We are also embedding our theory of change to measure not only the volume of pro bono work but its tangible impact on communities.
ESG advice to clients
Footnote
ESG advisory has been identified as a strategic megatrend for the firm as part of our five-year strategy. Our cross-border, cross-sector, and cross-practice experts have been advising clients on a wide range of ESG-related matters for several years. Over the past 12 months, much of this work has focused on supporting clients with energy transition strategies, CSRD reporting and compliance, and employment-related ESG issues. Looking ahead, we hope to enhance our ESG tagging functionality and explore methodologies to assess clients based on their transition to net zero - an emerging industry best practice. This evolution reflects our commitment to helping clients navigate complex sustainability challenges while contributing to long-term, responsible growth.