Independent Verification Carbon Reporting: Fountain Court

Fountain Court has become the first Chambers to gain independent verification of the accuracy of its greenhouse gas emissions report.

Transparency is vital to ensure credibility and trust in carbon standards and by gaining the Carbonology ISO 14064 verification mark, Fountain Court is showing leadership through voluntary disclosure.

About Fountain Court Chambers

Fountain Court Chambers is one of the most prominent commercial barristers’ chambers and recognised as leaders in the fields of commercial and regulatory disputes, and corporate crime.

Known for its client service and innovation, that message is being reinforced by being the first set to gain independent verification of its carbon reporting to ISO 14064, the international standard for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  

In July 2024, after having been invited to participate in a workshop by one of Chambers’ key clients, Fountain Court worked with carbon standards experts Carbonology to develop a rigorous approach to compiling, quantifying, and reporting its carbon footprint.

Carbonology assisted the team build its knowledge around the subject. This would enable reporting of the Chambers’ GHG emissions and support discussion about a plan for reducing its emissions.

Taking a lead in carbon reporting

While Chambers had always encouraged good environmental practice, it had not previously taken a measured approach to reducing its carbon footprint.

Fountain court is a founding member of the Greener Litigation Pledge, which recognises the importance of restricting global warming to 1.5°C, as identified by the 2015 Paris Agreement. Signatories to the pledge aim to reduce the environmental impacts of litigation. The Chamber has encouraged the adoption of electronic working methods to reduce reliance on hard copy information. Training is offered on the tools and processes required to transition from hard copy files to electronic.

Carbon reporting is the next step. With training from Carbonology, Fountain Court gained a much greater understanding of the standards and best practice, and benefited from resources such as templates to help create a GHG inventory.

Fountain Court comments: “As members of the Green Litigation Pledge, we share an aspiration to reach a position where selecting the most environmentally sustainable option becomes the default. Gaining independent verification of our carbon reporting to ISO 14064 is fundamental to achieving that ambition.”

Gaining the support of barristers

After energy, travel makes up a substantial part of GHG emissions for all professional services organisation, but collecting this data could be a particular challenge for a barristers’ Chambers.

Fountain Court’s barristers are all self-employed and responsible for their own travel arrangements, so it is not possible to impose changes, in the way you could perhaps for employees in a large company. Engagement on the topic was needed, which was driven from the highest level within Chambers.

A small team, with a barrister acting as Sustainability Lead, designed a simple yet effective survey that would capture the information needed for the GHG protocol in a short amount of time. With effective internal messaging, the survey was well received, with a response rate from barristers and staff at 80%, which, encouragingly, was considered a pleasing result.

Data was collected on commuting, working from home and international travel so that Scope 1 and 2 emissions were properly accounted for.  Flight distances were simple to calculate with the help of an online calculator, but commuting was a more complex area. This may involve different modes of transport and work from home data must also be factored into the calculation for accuracy of final figures. Converting the data into carbon emissions was a manually intensive process, with raw data input into an excel spreadsheet.  

As a next step, Chambers is looking to improve data collection by automating the process, using a dedicated platform which will be added to the intranet portal.

Training built competency in the team

The team at Fountain Court gained the benefit of training from Carbonology. This included worked exercises to build their knowledge and blank templates to help collate and analyse their own data. Carbonology then verified that the process used was aligned with ISO standards and that the data was accurate and calculations credible.

“After receiving the training from Carbonology, for example around conversion factors, the process was quite straightforward.” Says xxxx  “It took about four weeks, from collection of data to the start of the audit, to work through scopes 1 and 2, with a good portion of Scope 3. Chambers’ next step is to aim for a reduction in GHG emissions, wherever possible.”

Carbon standards support decision making

It was observed that verification is more than just an audit.

Formalising the GHG accounting as part of ISO 14040 has made it easier to justify making changes based on carbon and not just cost, says xxx.

“Although other energy options may be cheaper, as part of its carbon reduction programme, Chambers has moved its contracts to renewables, including a swap to biogas. The aim is to ensure that, by contract renewals next year, energy supplies are 100% renewable.  

“To lessen the environmental impact further, Chambers give preference to suppliers with credentials that mirror these objectives.”

After preparing its own GHG emissions report, Fountain Court sought independent verification from Carbonology.

Joe Leggett of Carbonology explains the verification process has two levels of confidence ‘Limited’ and ‘Reasonable’.

“Fountain Court went for Reasonable Assurance, which gives the highest level of confidence and uses significant evidence to provide a positive opinion that the GHG inventory is free from material misstatement.

Carbonology reported that “The report was really good. There was nothing major missing, just a few mandatory elements of ISO 14064-1 that needed to be spelt out in order to be compliant with the standard.  

Joe continues: “Verification is voluntary, but it gives a clear signal to clients, and regulators that the business’s carbon claims are credible, and this builds trust within the business community.  Fountain Court is to be congratulated on taking leadership in this way.”