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Environmental Statement

Last Updated: August 2025

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (hereafter “Cleary Gottlieb” or “Firm”) strives for the highest standards of social and environmental responsibility and ethical conduct. This environmental statement reflects a portion of the work Cleary Gottlieb has conducted to enhance its sustainability practices.

An Outline of Cleary Gottlieb’s Environmental Ambitions and Practices

  • Net Zero Emissions: Achieving a Net-Zero GHG emissions goal by 2040, in alignment with the Firm’s approved net-zero science-based target. This involves monitoring our operational emissions and those of our vendors.
  • Emissions Inventory and Reduction: Tracking scope 1, 2, and 3[1] greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually, beginning from 2019. The Firm will strive to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 emissions 75% and scope 3 emissions 42% by 2030, from a 2022 base year, in alignment with the Firm’s approved near-term science-based target.
  • Staff Travel: Reducing emissions from business and staff travel from our 2022 base year.
  • Renewable Energy: Increasing the proportion of electricity and/or energy sourced from renewable sources such as solar, hydropower, wind, and geo-thermal. The Firm will purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to compensate when the use of non-renewable energy is required, as it has since 2023.
  • Waste Reduction: Reducing overall waste (including food, paper products, and more) through source reduction, recycling, re-use, education of our personnel, and empowering decisions and actions through convenient and logical systems infrastructure. Striving to reduce emissions from waste generated in our operations 42% by 2030, from our 2022 base year.
  • Energy Efficiency: Increasing energy efficiency through partnerships with building owners that address equipment, lighting, occupancy monitoring, and other energy efficiency improvements.
  • Purchasing & Supplier Engagement: Strengthening sourcing practices with preferential purchasing of environmentally friendly suppliers and prioritizing relationships with vendors who demonstrate commitment to improving their environmental impacts. See our Sustainable Purchasing Policy for more.
  • Regulatory Adherence: Complying with, or exceeding the requirements of, all applicable environmental laws and regulations in the regions where we operate.
  • Governance: Overseeing environmental efforts through annual review of environmental policies, targets, and processes, and identification of continuous improvement opportunities.

Cleary Gottlieb strives to carry out the ambitions and practices listed above across all its global offices and submits annual disclosures to CDP and EcoVadis to monitor progress and compliance. The Firm values collaborative conversations on this topic with our clients, vendors, and other stakeholders.

Review

The Firm’s Global Operations Committee reviews this Environmental Statement annually. Primary responsibility for the oversight, review, and implementation of objectives and practices as outlined in this statement rests with the Global Director of Strategic Initiatives, in collaboration with operations teams across all global offices.

The Global Operations Committee conducts a comprehensive annual assessment of this statement, ensuring alignment with our science-based targets for emissions reduction and compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations. This committee is responsible for identifying continuous improvement opportunities and updating the statement accordingly.

Department heads from Operations, Procurement, and Facilities Management will support implementation by monitoring their respective areas of responsibility, including tracking emissions, managing supplier relationships, overseeing waste reduction initiatives, and coordinating energy efficiency improvements.

[1] Scope 1: Generation of direct emissions from offices through onsite combustion and use of natural gas for heating and appliances, and through fugitive emissions (leaks) from refrigeration

Scope 2: Emissions created elsewhere for office operations, including steam heat and electricity.

Scope 3: Indirect emissions sources from staff commuting and leased facilities (such as data centers and even work conducted at home), waste generation, business travel and transportation and the firm’s supply chain.