Centralizing Sustainability Reporting for a Multi-National Law Firm

BACKGROUND

With ambitious plans for Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability performance improvements, it was clear from the outset that a software solution would be required. In order to optimise the green team’s time and to focus all facets of the business on the collective Sustainability goals, more regular reporting of performance towards targets was a must. The required Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 data was spread across multiple systems, and supplier data was patchy in places. A systematic approach to the data collection was required. Spreadsheets were far too time-consuming. The reporting burden and overhead was becoming an inhibitor to change, whereas regular reporting should be a catalyst for change and improvement. Achieving consistency across all offices in all countries was becoming more complex as the reporting scope expanded. Keeping up with changing emissions factors, standards and protocols for quarterly internal reporting led to frustration, delays and an overall dissatisfaction with the reporting process. Simple human error such as unit conversions, data entry mistakes, gaps and anomalous supplier data all contributed to the problem.

The reporting burden and overhead was becoming an inhibitor to change, whereas regular reporting should be a catalyst for change and improvement. Achieving consistency across all offices in all countries was becoming more complex as the reporting scope expanded. Keeping up with changing emissions factors, standards and protocols for quarterly internal reporting led to frustration, delays and an overall dissatisfaction with the reporting process. Simple human error such as unit conversions, data entry mistakes, gaps and anomalous supplier data all contributed to the problem.

THE SOLUTION

After a web search, Diligent ESG was shortlisted as one of the software solutions DWF should consider. During the evaluation process, DWF evaluated all vendors against predefined criteria of capabilities, functionality and reporting flexibility. As a relatively small organisation, DWF wanted to avoid a long IT implementation, capital outlay, or any plug-ins or software installs which would require time from the internal IT team. A cloud-based solution was preferred and one which is configurable without any software development was the ideal target solution.

THE RESULTS

Since starting to use Diligent ESG, DWF have been able to focus on achieving their performance improvement targets instead of data chasing and number crunching on Excel. This led to a 15% reduction of paper waste; an increase in teleconference utilisation by 150%, thereby reducing business travel; and 80% of all waste now being recycled.

Key benefits included:

• All data included on a single global platform with complete transparency to all calculations for all offices

• Up-to-date reports and interactive dashboards that are consistent across the board

• Readily available in all of the formats required for both internal and external stakeholders