[Originally published 12 February 2020]

I saw a recent advert by BP who are looking to recruit a Managing Counsel, Climate to support their in-house team as they advance the energy transition. Sounds an interesting role.  Even more interestingly for the legal sector as a whole, a recent headline in the The Lawyer read “Shell presses firms on green credentials as part of panel process”. The article continued…”Shell has set out a series of sustainability requirements that law firms need to fulfill if they want to be part of its next roster of legal advisers.” 

Interesting that one of the largest fossil fuel companies on the planet is making such demands of its legal advisers particularly when currently other sectors outside the obviously ‘green’ or social impact companies have not taken similar steps or at least not so publicly. 

Are the fossil fuel companies really changing or is this all window-dressing the cynical activists on the street might ask. Whatever the answer to that might be, as with the earliest diversity and inclusion initiatives, if client requirements on sustainability can help push firms to make real changes it’s certainly a step in the right direction and so much better than nothing….

(Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash)