Identifying priority areas
Here we focus on examples of products and services that are likely to be familiar to most law firms (for example, paper or energy). However, these examples are not exhaustive, and you may find the following framework useful for prioritising other categories - we have used it to identify whether the carbon impact of each stage in the product lifecycle is high or low.
| Carbon usage - high or low? | ||
|---|---|---|
| Example: IT consulting | Example: paper | |
| Extraction of raw materials | Low | High |
| Design and production | Low | High |
| Packaging and distribution | Low | High |
| Use and maintenance | High (travel) | Low |
| Incineration and disposal | Low | High |
| Overall | Low | High |
Once the risk of a category is established as high or low, this can be contrasted with its volume of use within the firm, which can most easily be measured by annual spend. Firms are then likely to prioritise effort in relation to those categories sitting in the top right hand quadrant.
