Our Environmental Initiative

Sullivan & Cromwell’s Environmental Initiative seeks to identify and implement strategies to reduce the environmental impacts of our activities and lead the legal profession in promoting responsible environmental practices.

As part of S&C’s effort to contribute to the communities where we live and work, in 2005 we became the first major international law firm to become “carbon neutral” in our U.S. operations through the purchase of carbon credits as an associate member of the Chicago Climate Exchange. These purchases offset the greenhouse gases from our U.S. energy usage and from the related business and commuting travel of our lawyers and staff. Our efforts to combat global warming also include retrofitting our offices with energy efficient lighting. This, along with other efficiency measures, has reduced our electrical consumption (and hence our greenhouse gas emissions) by 39% since 2002, which works out to an annual reduction of approximately 1,556 megawatts or 1.7 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.

Our Environmental Working Group also promotes a wide range of other initiatives: the purchase of energy efficient computer terminals and office equipment, the incorporation of “green” products and concepts in the design, construction and maintenance of our office spaces, aggressive efforts to “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” to conserve our natural resources, hybrid car service options for our employees and increasing environmental awareness. Our Environmental Initiative is an ongoing process to continually improve our environmental performance and to promote a shared sense of responsibility by our lawyers and support staff around the world for the protection of our natural environment.

At Sullivan & Cromwell, our lawyers understand that providing clients with an environmentally conscious work product is not only the socially responsible course of action, but also the most efficient and cost-effective way of doing business. Since our inception more than a century ago, the Firm has been at the vanguard of the profession and continues to look for the best ways to serve our clients and the communities in which we practice. As a firm, we also adopt measures that help reduce our carbon footprint and soften our overall impact on the environment.

Efforts to serve clients in more environmentally sensitive ways include:

• Wherever possible, engaging in the electronic retention and distribution of client documents, particularly in volume-heavy discovery processes 
• Use of double-sided copies to reduce cost and to conserve resources in instances requiring paper distribution 
• Document shredding and “e-waste” disposal occur on a regular basis, facilitating client confidentiality, easing document retention and bettering the environment 
• Automatically sending copiers and other office equipment into “power save” mode when not being used 
• Encouraging recycling by contracting with office vendors to increase the percentage of recycled supplies ordered by the Firm and equipping employees’ offices and relevant common areas with recycling bins 
• Contracting with car vendors to increase the use of “hybrid” and other more fuel efficient vehicles and encouraging car-pooling 
• Efforts and initiatives to educate new associates on the environmentally responsible practice of law

Our lawyers are involved with the following environmentally focused non-profit organizations:

Harbor Island Conservancy
Hudson Highlands Land Trust and Scenic Hudson Land Trust
Mashomack Preserve - The Nature Conservancy
Natural Resources Defense Council
New Mexico Water Dialogue
New York Council - Resources for the Future
New York State Board of The Nature Conservancy
Northeast New Mexico Regional Water Planning Steering Committee
Overpeck Preserve
The Battery Conservancy
The Glades Foundation
The Hudson River Foundation
Union County Water Board
Wilton Land Conservation Trust