Sustainability
Through our advocacy Arntzen de Besche seeks balanced solutions that benefit people, the environment and society. We are engaged in a variety of activities that help protect and develop the world we live in. Our strategy and business are based on our four values: teamwork, quality, integrity and commitment. Through our values we support and contribute to social development through various activities. We want to be a driving force in the green shift and have implemented a number of measures to reduce our carbon footprint.
Our initiatives
Climate neutral
In the period 2018 to 2021, we reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 54% and we work continuously to improve this. We want to do more and have therefore purchased climate quotas from the EU's climate quota system (EU ETS) which fully compensates for our emissions in 2019-2021 - this means we are climate neutral. The EU climate quota system is considered to be the most well-functioning and efficient quota system in the world.
Skift - Climate Business Leaders
Arntzen de Besche is member of the coalition Skift. Skift is a business-led climate initiative and the mission is to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy and to support the Norwegian government in delivering on its national climate commitments by 2030.
Read more about Skift here.
UN Global Compact
Arntzen de Besche is one of few Norwegian law firms approved by the UN Global Compact initiative, which means we support the initiative’s ten principles. The initiative encourages businesses worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. More than 8,000 businesses from 145 countries support the initiative. Read more about Un Global Compact here.
Norwegian Green Building Council
We wish to be a driving force in the green shift in the building and construction industry, and have therefore entered into a cooperation agreement with the Norwegian Green Building Council.
Together, we have created a contract guide to ensure that requirements related to the BREEAM-NOR eco-certification scheme are optimally implemented in turnkey contracts. The latest version of the guide can be found here.
Other initiatives
In 2013, Arntzen de Besche became an Eco-Lighthouse business. We have implemented an environmental policy, which involves systematic measures for our day-to-day business activities.
As part of our CSR efforts, we work pro bono in situations / cases where it is believed that people or organizations have been the victims of injustice.
We regularly arrange exam preparation lectures for law students at the University of Oslo, Bergen and Tromsø.
For many years, our lawyers have held honorary posts and participated actively in non-profits, foundations and law committees.
In 2022, we moved into new office premises in Oslo that are BREEAM-NOR Excellent certified - one of the highest climate certifications.
