Freshfields sustainability score: 62/100
Better than 97% of Consulting / Professional Services
Exceptional starts at 75. The highest score on SINK is 71.
Freshfields is a global law firm with ~5,945 staff and £2.2bn revenue (FY2025). Headquartered in London with major offices in New York, Paris, Tokyo and other financial centres, it advises on M&A, corporate, dispute resolution and project finance.
More about Freshfields
It is among the UK's largest law firms by turnover and headcount.
Founded 2008Head office London, United KingdomStaff ~5,945Revenue £2,248.3M (FY to 30 Apr 2025)Website ↗
Freshfields has cut operational emissions 80% through renewable electricity purchasing and efficiency, but Scope 3 is rising year-on-year, driven by business travel that the firm says is hard to cut given US growth. The firm has documented exposure to substantial fossil-fuel work—20 investor-state arbitrations and a 6:1 fossil-to-renewables deal ratio—with no client phase-out policy.
Freshfields scores 62/100 (Leading practice) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Nobody can pay to change a score, speed it up or hide it. Last verified October 2026.
That places Freshfields joint 6th of 1,023 companies scored, and joint 1st of 30 in Consulting / Professional Services.
What is Freshfields doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Carbon Footprint: Supply Chain (9/10, 8/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Nature & Biodiversity Impact (4/10, 4/10).
Where Freshfields lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
What would raise this score
- Whether its emissions are fallingShow a year-on-year fall in its total emissions.
- Its effect on natureMeasure its effect on nature and have it independently verified.
- Its effect on waterMeasure its water footprint and set reduction targets.
Every question that lost points
- Emissions from its own operations9/10No verified figures published with their method and a falling trend.
- Emissions from its supply chain8/10Its Scope 3 emissions aren't fully verified or falling year on year.
- Whether its emissions are falling4/10No evidence of a year-on-year fall in its total emissions.
- How clean its energy is6/10Less than 90% of its energy shown to be renewable.
- Its effect on nature4/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste6/10No verified figures for reuse and recycling across the business.
- Its effect on water4/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
- Its climate targets8/10No validated long-term net zero target.
- How openly it reports7/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
- Its record on controversies5/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Freshfields's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Freshfields's score based on?
12 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
50% of them were published by Freshfields itself; the rest come from independent sources.
6 of 12 sources are independent of the company.
“Table 1: Carbon footprint data (market-based results) as verified by Carbon Footprint Ltd, a third-party”
“Scope 1 436.3 tCO e”
“Scope 3 52,471 tCO2e: Purchased goods and services, fuel- and energy-related activities, waste”
“REAP (Reforestation in East Africa Programme) is Freshfields' flagship offsetting programme.”
“among which was the phase out of single-use plastics across all of its offices”
“the inaugural TNFD & Biodiversity Risk Reporting Conference took place in London”
“Freshfields represented fossil fuel interests in 20 cases, the highest number of any firm”
“the firm’s almost six-to-one ratio of fossil fuels to renewables was “by far the worst ratio among the magic circle firms””
“Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Hogan Lovells, Norton Rose Fulbright and Linklaters also scored the lowest mark, F”
“(Only Freshfields’ US practice was ranked – as an F.)”
“Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and King & Spalding represented fossil fuel interests in more than 20% of all fossil fuel-related cases”
“Global law firm Freshfields has published its 2025 responsible business report”
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How does Freshfields compare with other consulting / professional services companies?
Freshfields shares top spot among consulting / professional services peers.
Among the 30 major consulting / professional services brands we've scored, Freshfields is tied =1st of 30, with 1 other.
Who comes next in Consulting / Professional Services?
Freshfields leads its sector. These are the next 3 down.
Capgemini cut its total emissions 42% between 2019 and 2025, to 659,000 tCO2e, with 100% renewable electricity and SBTi-validated targets.
See the breakdown →Slaughter and May has set science-backed net-zero targets and reports third-party verified emissions, but reported total emissions rose 48% year-on-year due to methodology changes and refurbishment.
See the breakdown →Amesto is a Nordic accounting, software and professional services firm with small operational emissions.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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