ESG at Wolf Theiss
Sustainability is not just business for us, it’s personal: by helping our clients achieve their own ESG goals, we contribute to global efforts aimed at building a more sustainable business future. We not only advise others on ESG matters, but most importantly, we practice what we preach:
Mission Statement
As a leading firm in the CEE and SEE regions, we recognize our responsibility to contribute to the sustainable development of the communities and environments in which we operate. Our ESG mission is to set ambitious sustainable targets and implement effective measures to achieve them, while providing exceptional service to our clients.
We are committed to reducing our environmental impact, promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, and upholding the highest ethical standards in every aspect of our business.
We believe that transparency is key to building trust with our stakeholders, and as such, will issue an annual sustainability report to communicate the progress we’ve made and the challenges we’ve faced openly. We take sustainability seriously and strive to continuously improve our ESG performance by integrating sustainability throughout every area of our operation.
At Wolf Theiss, we believe that sustainability is not just a responsibility, but also an opportunity to create value for our clients, employees, shareholders, and society at large.
Our aim is to work towards a future where our services and operations are fully aligned with the principles of sustainability, and to contribute to a better world for future generations.
Sebastian Oberzaucher, Partner
Environmental
As a Law Firm, we have a twofold responsibility: to uphold environmentally friendly practices within our offices and to serve as a role model for our clients and business partners, inspiring them to embrace sustainable initiatives.
Social
Our dedication extends to our people and the communities we engage with. Our objective is not only to foster an inclusive and diverse workplace but also to actively support and uplift the communities we are a part of.
Governance
We prioritize good governance, ethics, and stakeholder well-being. By joining global anti-corruption efforts, we transparently fulfill legal obligations and responsibly govern for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Environmental
It is high time to take on more ecological responsibility by reducing the consumption of resources and tackling environmental pollution. As a Service Provider, we too, have a duty to assess our material topics and reduce our impact in the relevant fields of action:
Environmental Policy
We work towards reducing global warming and preventing the waste of resources through all our business activities – it is our policy to consider not only economic aspects, but also ecological ones.
CO2 Driver Business Travel
As lawyers who operate globally, our main CO2 Driver is Business Travel. We are currently investigating the exact negative impact this has on our CO2 Footprint and are on course to set up binding policies that tackle the challenge of continuing to represent our clients while using more sustainable methods of travel. In the meantime, we are focusing on awareness-raising campaigns and promoting train travel to get our employees on track to meeting our environmental policy objectives. Our goal is not only to replace short-haul flights with train travel, but to also reduce business travel overall.
Employee Mobility
We encourage our staff to commute to work as sustainably as possible and support public transport as well as cycling wherever feasible. In Vienna for example, we offer our staff the annual ticket for public transport as well as an annual bicycle check, which is free for employees.
Handle with Care: Resource Management & Energy Efficiency
Saving resources is becoming more and more important – not only due to the current economic crisis, but simply because our resources are finite. In 2022 the global Earth Overshoot Day was on July 28th, meaning that resource consumption for 2022 exceeded the sustainable amount of biological resources regenerated by the earth that year in the first seven months. In comparison, in the year 2000, Earth Overshoot Day was on September 23rd.
This shows us that we need to reconsider the way we live and consume resources – including in our offices – by reducing heating and air-conditioning, turning off our computers and lights when not needed and printing less. There are numerous ways in which each of us can live this change, and at WT, we make sure that everyone knows and adheres to them.
The bare minimum in all our offices of course is: Waste Prevention and Recycling, going by the motto of Avoid – Separate – Recycle!
Responsible Supply Chains
Cleaning products, food & beverages, office supplies, Give-Aways, as well as restaurants and event locations; these are all areas where we can make a difference by choosing responsibly produced goods and regional suppliers. We have made it our duty to assess our suppliers and their products and to base our purchasing decisions on these results.
Social Responsibility
To be sustainable also means to understand and live one’s own social responsibility – towards our people as well as the communities we are a part of. We are very much aware of the important role we play in our society as a Law firm and respect the influence we hence have.
Corporate Culture
Joining our team means becoming part of a vibrant and dynamic culture that nurtures individual growth, celebrates achievements, and promotes a healthy work-life balance. Together, we create an environment where everyone can thrive and contribute to our collective success.
We invite you to be a part of our corporate culture and embark on an exciting journey of growth, innovation, and shared accomplishments.
Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity and Inclusion are crucial in fostering a welcoming and equitable environment. Embracing individuals from various backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives enriches our collective understanding and drives innovation.
Reducing Barriers at Work
We are constantly improving our work environment – this includes adopting structural changes within our office buildings to remove barriers where applicable.
But, “Barrier-free” means more than just a physically accessible work environment, it also means that we work to create an accessible workplace in terms of inclusive language and workplace attitude. We are continuously improving policies and procedures to ensure that our workplace is free from discrimination and harassment, and that all employees are afforded dignity and respect at work.
Community Support & Charity
We care about our communities. Throughout all our offices we support the local arts & culture and initiate volunteering projects for our employees to join.
Governance
At the heart of our ESG commitment lie strong governance practices. We believe that effective governance ensures transparency, accountability, and ethical decision-making throughout our organization.
Code of Business Conduct
Good governance is the basis of both our advisory activities and our own corporate governance: we take our responsibility as a role model for sustainable and just business behaviour for all stakeholders seriously, and are aware of the impact we have through the work we do with our clients as well as our client- and supplier selection.
It is therefore highly relevant for us to formulate and document our values and ethical standards in a transparent manner.
Compliance, Anti-Money-Laundering, Anti-Corruption
Our stakeholder relationships are based on integrity, transparency and propriety. For us as a Law Firm, it is not only self-evident but crucial to follow legal principles; compliance topics are therefore at the core of our daily business.
We offer clear internal procedures for employees to report concerns about values, ethics, and professional misconduct, and have installed a Whistleblowing System. All external stakeholders are subject to regular monitoring.
Training & Continuing Education
To ensure that the law and internal guidelines are applied, all employees must take part in mandatory training sessions on the subjects of Compliance as well as IT & Data Security. We further offer various other training opportunities and enforce and support Continuing Education for all employees.
Diversity at Board Level
We are working on increasing diversity at board level by creating new possibilities and introducing new role models to ensure that everyone can feel represented at the highest levels of the company.
Jela Mohr
ESG Manager
The ESG Manager role at Wolf Theiss was created to fast-track EU-compliant ESG targets in our daily operations. We take this challenge seriously. For more about our sustainability journey, feel free to contact me.
Commitment
We are committed to making business decisions without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Seeing this as our responsibility, we are dedicated to following the United Nation Sustainability Goals.
We see our possible and actual, direct and indirect impacts within the following Goals:
3 – Good Health and Well-Being: we are taking responsibility for the people in our own workforce, but also recognize the expanded responsibility for the communities we operate in
4 – Quality Education: by offering traineeships, training and continuous education, we are helping talents of all backgrounds to grow within their fields
5 – Gender Equality: it is our aim, to continuously enhance gender equality at all levels, and are committed to creating equal opportunities for all, regardless of age, social background, religion or sexual orientation.
8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth: we have a responsibility to create a beneficial working environment and help our workforce to be economically secure
12 – Responsible Consumption and Production: even as a business we are consumers – we see it as our obligation to set a good example and make our consumption as a whole more sustainable. This includes buying regional, seasonal and sustainably produced products, and choosing suppliers who also take on their responsibility.
13 – Climate Action: even though we are not a producing company, we still have an impact on our environment. It is our responsibility to tackle these challenges and reduce our CO2 Footprint, making work and travel more sustainable and cutting down the waste of resources.
16 – Peace, Justice and strong Institutions: as a Law Firm it is our core task to fight for peace, justice and strong institutions.
17 – Partnership for the Goals – as an international Law Firm we are multipliers, role models, partners for sustainability and are aware of our potential influence.