Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has been awarded the EcoVadis Gold Medal for its sustainability program, ranking the transatlantic law firm in the top five percent of global companies and in the top two percent in the legal and accounting industry.

As worldwide scrutiny of corporate sustainability efforts increases, companies around the world now take into consideration the EcoVadis rating of potential clients, suppliers and partners. EcoVadis assesses criteria across four themes; Labour & Human Rights, Ethics, Environment and Sustainable Procurement.

The 2022 survey evaluated over 90,000 companies from 200 industries spanning 160 countries, with WBD receiving outstanding in Environment, and advanced in both Labour & Human Rights and Ethics.

In the last 12 months, the firm has made several changes to improve its rating. These include: the launch of a Carbon Reduction Plan to support our journey to net zero, achieving gold certification from Investors in People, the introduction and development of additional environmental, procurement and ethics policies, further development of support groups for under-represented groups and family friendly support programmes, and improved training statistics.

WBD’s General Counsel and lead on Responsible Business, Nicki Shepherd, commented: “The EcoVadis Gold Medal is a milestone in the successful implementation of our sustainability strategy. As a firm, WBD aims to be a responsible business working closely to ensure we deliver the best for our people, clients and communities. We are determined to play a pivotal role in creating better places to live, work and do business in.

“We continuously strive to improve all aspects of sustainability throughout the firm and witnessing our journey from bronze to gold has been rewarding. We are proud that the progress we have made in recent years has been confirmed by an independent, external rating.”