Sri Lanka’s pre-eminent law firm is now its greenest

• F.J. & G. de Saram certified as the country’s first carbon neutral law firm

Commemorating its 180th anniversary this month, F.J. & G. De Saram, was recently certified as a carbon neutral organisation, a first for the Sri Lankan legal sector. 

With an increasing awareness of its social and environmental obligations, the firm launched the FJ&G Green Earth Project in January 2019 to reduce its footprint and to foster a culture of ‘planet consciousness’ among its lawyers and staff. The goal of the project is to trigger a shift towards a mindset which has accountability for our planet’s future at its core. It is its hope that each step it takes towards a more sustainable practice has a ripple effect, gradually influencing businesses, families and communities to work together towards a cleaner, greener and healthier planet. 

Since the launch of the FJ&G Green Earth Project, the firm has invested in technology and processes to shift to being a ‘paper light’ organisation, which is a significant milestone for a professional services firm operating in a traditionally paper-intensive field. FJ&G has also stopped the purchase of any form of single use plastic, investing instead in re-usable and eco-friendly alternatives, introduced measures to reuse existing plastic products, reduced the purchase of other forms of plastic and implemented projects to reduce its waste. 

“We are very pleased to have achieved a carbon neutral status. This certification is the culmination of our focused effort in recent years to be a sustainable professional service provider,” says F.J. & G. de Saram Precedent Partner Ayomi Aluwihare. “After several years of adopting and implementing sustainable practices, we decided to seek the assistance of independent experts to measure and advise on compensating for our unavoidable emissions.” 

“The issue of compensating for unavoidable emissions has always been the greatest challenge for environmentally conscious organisations,” says The Carbon Consulting Company (CCC) CEO Sanith de S. Wijeyeratne. 

“While FJ&G had significantly reduced their operational emissions, they were still producing a considerable quantum of unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions. CCC was able to calculate the firm’s footprint in accordance with globally accepted standards and, in order to compensate for these emissions, arrange for the firm to financially support a registered carbon reduction project which would reduce the same quantum of emissions from the atmosphere on behalf of the firm. The investment in the project is carried out through an instrument called ‘Carbon Credits’. 

“Each credit compensates for one ton of emissions, and, like a stock market, is governed by globally recognised standards and registries. To complete the transaction, a number of credits equal to the tons of emissions by the firm are taken off the market (or ‘retired’ to use the correct terminology). This means that the greenhouse gas reductions represented by those credits have been attributed to FJ&G in return for their financial support of the carbon reduction project. The firm’s net amount of greenhouse gas emissions is therefore zero, as it has helped to remove the same amount of greenhouse gases as it is responsible for emitting. 

“This is the basis behind carbon neutrality. The certification was carried out by an independent verification and certification agency, The Sustainable Future Group, which administers the ZeroCarbon certification. The certification makes F.J. & G. de Saram the first carbon neutral law firm in the country. We are proud to have worked with such an eminent professional services firm and hope that their example inspires other professional firms and beyond to make a similar effort towards more sustainable practices.”  

Anjali Fernando, the Partner at the firm who leads the FJ&G Green Earth Project went on to comment, “We appreciate the assistance and expertise given to us by CCC in understanding how we can better manage our emissions and how to compensate for them in an internationally recognised manner. We actively try to engage in community-based projects such as our drive for the collection and proper disposal of e-waste and to promote healthier practices internally such as our ’bike to work’ days, to encourage our lawyers to reduce their carbon footprint while commuting. For us, this carbon neutral certification is a significant step in an ongoing journey towards carrying on a sustainable legal practice and delivering on our commitment towards our society and our planet.” 

F.J. & G. De Saram are recognised leaders in corporate and commercial law and their practice areas span the complete gamut of corporate and commercial sectors in Sri Lanka. The firm continues to provide relevant and innovative legal solutions to help clients navigate a constantly changing business environment.   

The Carbon Consulting Company (CCC) is the pioneer in developing carbon offset programs in Sri Lanka. The company has a portfolio of services including Carbon and Water Footprinting, Carbon Asset Management, Bio Diversity Assessment and Life Cycle Analysis. CCC also consults on Corporate Environmental Sustainability Management Strategies and has established an international presence with active projects in Sri Lanka, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Oman, and Hong Kong and clients in Sweden, Norway, the USA, the UK, and Canada.