James & Wells Intellectual Property has about 60 employees in its offices in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga and Christchurch, and last year embedded environmental sustainability alongside its long-held practises of social and economic corporate responsibility.

CEMARS (the Certified Emissions Measurement And Reduction Scheme) is a key certification offered by carboNZero^CertTMHoldings Limited.

Partner Simon Rowell, who heads the firm's Sustainable Business Committee, says achieving CEMARS is a memorable milestone: "We are proud to be the first intellectual property law firm to achieve certification, reinforcing our place as a leader in the profession.

"We do IP work for a lot of companies which are at the forefront of clean technology innovation, and this has challenged us to examine our own processes and demonstrate our environmental commitment.

"The process of measuring and understanding our emissions has been challenging and exciting."

To gain CEMARS certification, James & Wells Intellectual Property has measured its greenhouse gas emissions in compliance with ISO 14064-1, and made a commitment to manage and reduce those emissions to certain targets through documented plans.

The firm's current carbon footprint is 296.35 tonnes of CO₂e (equivalent to 1,267,000km driven in a two litre petrol car), of which the key components are work air travel, and energy use (mainly electricity and vehicle fuel). It has committed to reducing its emissions by 5 per cent a year for the first three years.

Simon Rowell says the business case for reducing costs such as electricity, travel and waste is also very clear.

"We now know our benchmark, and the measurement is one with the global credibility of CEMARS behind it. The environment's long-term health depends on all of us making the effort to reduce our carbon footprint, as companies and individuals."

So far, the firm has adopted video conferencing in all offices to reduce domestic travel, and the Christchurch office has become paperless.

The CEMARS certification is a key part of James & Wells' new corporate social responsibility strategy, which also includes supporting Sustainable Coastlines (www.sustainablecoastlines.org) as a silver sponsor, and providing a volunteer base for clean-ups including Ruapuke and Milford beaches so far.

Simon Rowell today announced a unique scheme where James & Wells Intellectual Property will donate to Sustainable Coastlines 5 per cent of any professional fees billed to members of the Sustainable Business Network, Sustainable Business Council, or organisations with CEMARS certification.

For more information about CEMARS organisation certification, please see http://www.carbonzero.co.nz/options/cemars.asp.

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