General Counsel and Chief Legal Officers in many of the world’s largest organisations are supporting their corporation or public body to address the increasing challenges, and business opportunities, of the sustainability transition.
“We all know that as GCs we need to respond to the multiple demands of ESG.
The Forum provides a highly effective framework within which to prioritise this work, share insights and grow our capabilities.”
Mark Gregory, Global GC, Rolls-Royce
and current Forum member
Members of the General Counsel Sustainability Forum (GCS Forum), are top tier GCs and CLOs who are supported to engage with their peers to gain insights, receive practical advice and build their capabilities.
The GCS Forum enables GCs and CLOs to handle the demands of the sustainability transition, whilst continuing to thrive in the rest of their role.
Since starting the pilot programme in April 2021, we have worked with well over 100 influential in-house legal leaders and have 40 participating in the current cohort.
The global GCs of many FTSE100 and equivalent sized corporations are participating such as those of Rolls Royce, WPP, Centrica, National Grid, BUPA, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Dentsu and Specsavers.
NAME CHANGE:
“Lawyers for Net Zero” was our original name.
We changed in September 2023 as it became clear that to achieve the desired impact we must focus our resources on supporting top tier GCs and CLOs.
Also the environmental sustainability challenges members were focusing on went beyond climate issues.
For further info on why GCs and CLOs are so important, click here.
WE ADVOCATE FOR ACTION ACROSS THE LEGAL SECTOR
All lawyers, in-house and law firm, can help drive the sustainability transition.
Our inspirational CEO and founder Adam Woodhall won the LexisNexis “Legal Personality of the Year” award in 2023.
He speaks at high profile conferences and webinars, such as those on our events page, on podcasts and at private events.
Adam also contributes thought leadership to publications such as the Financial Times and those on our Media page.
Connect with Adam on LinkedIn here.
Interested in Adam speaking to your audience? Contact us here.
LinkedIn is our main communication platform.
Join our COMPANY PAGE by clicking here.
“It became clear I needed to support the business by developing my understanding of the complex challenges and opportunities inherent in environmental and climate matters.
The Forum has been pivotal in growing my capabilities and impact in this area.”
Raj Roy, Global GC, Centrica
and current Forum member
The Forum
The GCS Forum is focused on supporting GCs and CLOs to handle the challenges of sustainability, develop capabilities and insights, and assist their organisation to achieve its sustainability goals and commitments.
The formula for our highly regarded process is:
+ Add a network of like-minded individuals to the guidance provided by our “Action Principles”.
x Multiplier effect created via our Leaders Groups and other peer to peer learning tools.
= Equals rapid growth of capabilities and network.
“Forum membership has been fantastically helpful.
I have been able to gain insights and learn from other global GCs. Without this support it would have taken us much longer.”
Justine Campbell, Global GC, National Grid
and current Forum member
The Forum is invite only.
Top tier GCs wishing to find out more, and understand our eligibility requirements, click the link below.
1. NETWORK of GCs and CLOs
We bring together a network of leaders, with the focus being exclusively on top tier GCs and CLOs.
This network offers a platform for support and the sharing of best practice, case studies, thought leadership and ideas for positively influencing internal colleagues and processes and external suppliers and stakeholders.
Joining the Forum gives members access to this powerful network and enables them to get ahead of the curve and be a leader not a follower.
All members will join one of our carefully curated Leaders Groups and will also gain access to various other peer-to-peer tools.
JOIN OUR LINKEDIN PAGE
2. GUIDANCE: Action Principles
Our “Action Principles” (right) provide guidance to GCs and CLOs on where to focus their attention and how to take action to support their organisation to navigate the challenges and take the opportunities of sustainability.
Principle 1: Champion legitimate sustainability internally
Principle 2: Deliver rapid practical action
Principle 3: Learn and share key knowledge
Principle 4: Influence supply chain, customers, and shareholders
Principle 5: Champion sustainability to your peers, industry and regulators
All members also gain access to a benchmarking tool which enables them to understand their progress.
Are you a top tier GC or CLO?
3. INSIGHTS provided by peers
Our Leaders Groups are the core of the Forum along with a number of other peer-to-peer tools.
Feedback from participants consistently demonstrates that these groups are a highly valuable time investment for any GC or CLO.
The focus of the Groups are each participant to create a bespoke action plan and to deliver it over each 3-4 month ‘Cycle’.
The Leaders Groups are a peer-to-peer process. Four participants meet every 3 or 4 weeks on Teams for 45 min supported by an expert facilitator.
Participants get to share successes and good practice, work through challenges and receive advice from each other and the facilitator. This generates accountability enabling peer insights and capability building.
“The Forum has been fundamental in helping me to take action and lead in this area.
Being able to get together with a small cohort of other GCs of a similar level, in a safe space to talk about sustainability issues, receive practical advice from my peers and develop action plans is invaluable.”
Andrew Kidd, Global GC, Specsavers
and current Forum member
Learn more about the Forum:
Why GCs and CLOs?
“General counsel have a helicopter view of the business in a way only shared by the CEO and CFO.
Not everything is a legal issue, but everything is related to risk and resilience. General counsel have an opportunity to help guard against greenwashing and achieve legitimate sustainability.”
Adam Woodhall, CEO and Founder of GCS Forum
Quoted in the Financial Times.
GCs have become key corporate leaders, and they and their teams are always ‘in the room’ when big decisions are made, particularly when reputation, regulations, new projects, risks and compliance are considered.
This means the role of the General Counsel has moved far beyond their historic narrow focus on contracts and legal issues, now being the go-to advisors on a broad range of issues. With sustainability issues moving to the centre of the business agenda, it is essential for GCs to build their capabilities.
Even before Covid and Ukraine, many organisations were reviewing business practices and wider enterprise risks. Now the resiliency of their supply chains and alignment in relation to climate, and wider Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) impacts, has come into even clearer focus.
The GCs and CLOs that are members of Forum leverage their key role in the diverse areas where they have influence to support the achievement of legitimate sustainability.
“With their connections, GCs and their teams can play a key role in being a champion for their sustainability colleagues and help push the ESG agenda across the business. You can be their eyes and ears, heart and soul.
The Forum supports you in this and helps you to deliver tangible sustainability actions.”
Andrea Harris, Global GC, WPP
and current Forum member
The Forum is invite only.
Top tier GCs and CLOs wishing find out more about the Forum and our eligibility requirements click the link below.
About us
General Counsel Sustainability Forum is a non-profit working to support GCs and CLOs to build their capabilities and gain insights from their peers.
There are 40 current participants, many of whom are the global GCs of FTSE100 and equivalent sized corporations including those of Rolls Royce, Centrica, Specsavers, BUPA, Dentsu, Intercontinental Hotels Group, National Grid and WPP.
OUR MISSION
Is to provide a highly effective forum for some of the most influential leaders in business and society, global GCs and CLOs, as they proactively handle ESG challenges and assist in achieving corporate sustainability goals and commitments.
OUR VISION
Our vision is an accelerating societal transition in the 2020s so that younger generations inherit a sustainable and thriving planet.
OUR INSPIRATION
The catalyst for our founding was the recognition in early 2021 that there was a massive, but largely unrecognised, opportunity for influential in-house lawyers to support their organisation to deliver significant sustainability action.
OUR IMPACT
Increasing numbers of top tier GCs and CLOs are now helping drive the sustainability transition and we are delighted that many are members of the Forum.
100% NON-PROFIT:
We are a 100% non-profit ‘Community Interest Company’ (CIC), enabling us to be laser focused on delivering the activities that will best support GCs and CLOs to drive sustainability in their organisation.
TEAM:
Meet our team of highly experienced and passionate individuals, led by Adam Woodhall our CEO and Founder, and Jane Pittaway, our Executive Chair.
TALENT NEEDED:
Curious about volunteering or working for GCS Forum?
EVENTS:
Find out about events we are involved in, both past and future.
MEDIA:
Browse articles, podcasts and webinars featuring our team and Forum members.
WIDER LEGAL COMMUNITY:
Our initiative is part of a wider community of climate and environmental sustainability projects in the legal sector including:
ACC Environmental and Sustainability Network
Bar Sustainability Network
Campaign for Greener Arbitrations
Chancery Lane Project
ClientEarth
Climate Change Legal Initiative
Climate Law & Finance Initiative
Climate Law and Governance Initiative
Climate Litigation Lab
Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative
Foundation for International Law for the Environment
Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers
Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development
Greener Litigation
Hughes Hall, Cambridge Uni - Law for Climate Action
International Bar Association EHS Committee
Law Society Climate Change Working Group
Legal Charter 1.5
Legal Response International
Legal Sustainability Alliance
Legal Voices for the Future
Law Students for Climate Accountability
Net Zero Lawyers Alliance
In Memoria
We were deeply saddened by the passing in July ‘23 of our Chair, the inspirational legal leader Professor Paul Watchman.
He was, amongst many things, responsible for the seminal UNEP Finance Initiative report in 2005 which established the term ESG and it’s legal framework for institutional investment.
We were very grateful to Paul for his enthusiastic support since before we launched, and wish to commemorate his contribution to making the world a better place over many decades.
You can read more about Paul here.
Contact
TALK TO US
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Context
Liveable Planet
We can limit global warming to 1.5°C, which would retain a liveable climate, but only with widespread, rapid and determined effort across all sectors.
A powerful 60 second summary is on the UN video above (watch with sound on).
If we rely only on the current climate commitments of the Paris Agreement, temperatures can be expected to rise by 3.2°C above pre-industrial levels this century.
Temperatures have already increased 1.1°C, leaving families, homes and communities devastated. Every extra 0.1°C average warming will not only worsen this, but also cause increasingly damaging disruptions to supply chains and businesses.
To limit emissions to 1.5°C we must reduce emissions every year between 2020 and 2030 by 7.6%.
However even with the mass economic slowdown of 2020, CO2 emission only reduced by 4% globally between 1st Jan and 31st Dec 2020.
To ensure the second half of the 21st century is liveable, we must achieve net zero globally by mid-century at the latest. This will mean we have reduced human-caused emissions to almost zero, and balanced what’s left by, for example, restoring forests or carbon capture and storage.
There are also many other planetary boundaries, in addition to climate change, which have been crossed, or are near to being crossed, such as biodiversity loss and nitrogen overloading, which will affect how liveable our planet is for this and future generations. Covid has demonstrated that our society is vulnerable to predictable shocks and the opportunity is now to build a truly resilient future.
These facts are why our focus is on supporting GCs and CLOs, the most influential individuals in the corporate legal sector, in the biggest organisations on the planet.
Business Case
There is a clear business case for change, with multiple drivers across the national and global economy. Just a few examples are:
Exponential growth of some markets, such as renewables, and the collapsing of others, like coal.
“Demand for climate-related financial disclosures has skyrocketed” according to Mark Carney, ex-Governor of the Bank of England.
Ambitious emissions reductions targets by large entities, such as corporations, cities, regions and countries, which is represented by the huge surge of entities committing to net zero and joining the UN’s ‘Race to Zero’.
These, and many, many more will mean all sectors will have to undergo a rapid transitional process.
Aligning with a sustainable future, and wider ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) and resilience issues, will demonstrate that lawyers understand, and are taking action on, a major issue affecting their current and future employees and clients, boosting reputation.
In the context of the climate and ecological crisis and the expanding commercial advantages of accelerating a sustainable world, we believe it is time for in-house counsel to assess their role and the basis on which they advise in their stakeholders best interests.
Risk Management
Businesses, their boards and in-house legal teams face a constantly evolving landscape with exposure to multiple risks, both financial and reputational, as the climate crisis unfolds.
There are numerous stakeholders who are very interested in businesses’ response to sustainability, such as investors, consumers, clients, regulators and activist groups. This has created an expectation that in-house counsel will do more to identify, manage and mitigate the risks in their organizations.
This is creating pressure for businesses to manage more effectively the overlaps and gaps between legal, sustainability and the business.
As the in-house legal function transforms, so does the way in which it contributes to the businesses’ risk management, playing a greater and more proactive role than has historically been the case. All of this contributes to the central role GCs and CLOs will play in leading the sustainability transformation.
GCLF is supporting GCs and CLOs to rapidly build their capability to help their business achieve, and exceed their sustainability goals and ESG commitments.
