Sustainability

We have implemented numerous strategies to reduce our impact on the environment, and are actively and continuously looking for ways to incorporate environmental stewardship and improve our current practices. Overall, the firm has been engaged in the U.S. EPA WasteWise Program, the U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership Program, and the U.S. EPA Energy Star Program since 2008.

Our sustainability initiatives include:

• Renewable Energy
  • The combination of our utility providers’ input and our purchase of additional renewable energy is the equivalent of 86 percent of the energy used in our global operations., As a result of our commitment to renewable energy at that level, the firm has met the standards for the Leadership designation in the U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership Program.
• Built Environment
  • When building out and retrofitting offices, we implement Leadership in Environmental Design (LEED) construction requirements and opt for Energy Star equipment, and we continue to upgrade mechanical equipment and lighting to reduce energy use.
  • For existing systems, we optimize hours and performance to minimize usage.
  • We consistently encourage and negotiate with our vendors and landlords to operate more sustainably and invest in recommissioning and upgrading equipment, keeping in mind that the built environment is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
  • When we installed EV charging stations at our Palo Alto office in 2008, we were one of the first law firms to do so.
• Benchmarking
  • We have completed a GHG inventory consistently for the past 5 years. This process has helped us to establish a reliable, scientific baseline to guide us in future reduction goals.
  • We measure scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions and report them through the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and EcoVadis. This process has helped us better quantify our carbon footprint and evaluate options to continue to reduce our environmental impact.
• Daily Operations
  • We are collecting commuter survey data to inform future sustainable policies for our business operations. We encourage the use of mass transit, carpooling, biking, and other alternatives to driving. We offer subsidized public transit passes and provide bike racks for our employees where feasible.
  • In 2024, we developed and implemented a survey for vendors, asking for information on their sustainability positions and carbon footprints, serving as the beginning of our initiative to determine a rating system that will enable us to develop an engagement and assessment process for future partnerships.
  • As we continuously look for opportunities to reduce our environmental footprint in daily operations, we maintain recycling programs in all our office locations, as well as composting programs where possible. We also factor the environment into our purchasing decisions and consider sustainable versions of various products (such re-usable or compostable utensils and to-go containers).
  • We’ve implemented sustainable food purchasing programs in our Palo Alto office cafe, as well as food donation programs for unused food, and make a point to purchase locally.
  • Whenever feasible, we give preference to materials and supplies that are recyclable, biodegradable, have recycled content, are free of hazardous chemicals, or are locally produced.
• Employee Engagement
  • We are partnering with sustainability-focused clients such as Lunar and Renew to bring educational opportunities to employees across the firm.
  • We utilize Earth Day to re-focus employees on environmental stewardship. In 2024 for example, we held a series of Earth Day events and communications, including a firm-wide challenge that over 200 employees accomplished.
  • In July 2024, we held a Summer Sustainability Challenge, with over 200 people signing up and over 100 completing all 5 days of the challenge. We also coordinated internal presentations by Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

The firm provides pro bono services to the following organizations focused on environmental protection:

• Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy (LSE)
  • Wilson Sonsini was a co-founding member of the Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy (LSE) initiative at the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit. A first-of-its-kind initiative supported by Stanford Law School and Stanford's Precourt Institute for Energy, LSE offers free legal assistance to entrepreneurs and nonprofits taking on key sustainability challenges across multiple economic sectors in energy, transportation, and land use. The initiative initially aimed to deliver free legal services worth $20 million by the end of 2020, including a $2 million commitment by Wilson Sonsini. By the end of Phase I (2018-2020), the firm had donated a total of $6.38 million in pro bono services—more than tripling its initial commitment. In 2021, the firm made a renewed commitment to donate $4 million in legal services for Phase 2 (2021-2022), which we also exceeded. In 2023, Wilson Sonsini committed over $6 million to LSE’s initiative, and in the following year (2024), we confirmed nearly $7 million in pro bono services. In 2025, we are renewing our commitment to LSE again.
• Plastic Fischer
  • Wilson Sonsini supports Plastic Fischer, an EU-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to stop plastic waste from getting into the ocean. Plastic Fischer’s impact is felt across the globe. The firm represented Plastic Fischer in its research efforts related to the EU sustainability laws and regulations that impact the organization’s mission. The firm also advised Plastic Fischer on funding schemes in different jurisdictions, environmental standards and their antitrust implications, and contract advisory matters.
• Justice Climate Fund
  • On April 4, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and former Vice President Kamala Harris announced that Justice Climate Fund (JCF) was selected to receive approximately $1 billion in funding under the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator program. Wilson Sonsini supported JCF in connection with this once-in-a-generation commitment to building enduring clean and green financing institutions that deliver transformational climate equity for families and communities across the country.    
    
    The EPA chose JCF to deliver funding and technical assistance to build the clean financing capacity of the nation’s community lenders and minority-led banks working in low-income and disadvantaged communities, providing underinvested communities with the capital they need to deploy clean energy technologies. The JCF network includes more than 1,200 community lenders representing over 280 million Americans.
• Energy Enterprises in Africa
  
  Wilson Sonsini provides pro bono representation to a number of social enterprises in Africa that are in the energy sector. The firm advises them on an ongoing basis with respect to general corporate and organization governance matters. Of note are the following social enterprise clients:
  • Ampersand, Africa’s first electric transport energy company with the longest track record of serving a commercial e-motorcycle fleet and battery swapping network at scale. Since its founding in 2016, Ampersand has grown to be best-in-class for technology and performance, with more than 500 employees and a presence in Rwanda and Kenya. Through extensive testing and R&D, it has grown its fleet to 3,900 and is expected to surpass 40,000 by the end of 2026. By powering commercial transport through its reliable electrical energy supply, Ampersand is paving the way for affordable, lower-carbon public transport and the creation of green jobs.
  • SunFi, an energy financing technology company based in Nigeria. SunFi connects individuals who want to buy solar through a financing method that allows for customized repayment plans, ensuring that users avoid straining their financial budgets.
  • Gridless, a bitcoin mining company based in Ghana. Gridless is helping to bring new energy generation to rural communities in East Africa.
• Tejon Ranch Litigation
  • In January 2023, a team at Wilson Sonsini represented a consortium of prominent environmental groups comprising the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Audubon California, The Endangered Habitats League, and the Planning Conservation League in a dispute over the Tejon Ranch Company’s obligations under the parties’ landmark 2008 Tejon Ranch Conservation and Land Use Agreement. The agreement preserved 90 percent of the 270,000-acre Tejon Ranch (the largest private landholding in California) and created the Tejon Ranch Conservancy—an independent nonprofit land trust—to manage conservation of (and public access to) the 240,000 acres of protected land. The recent settlement ends a long-running clash over Tejon Ranch’s obligations to fund the Tejon Ranch Conservancy. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Tejon Ranch will release all of the money the environmental groups claimed it owed to the conservancy, and the parties agreed to work together to create a matching fundraising program to further benefit the conservancy. Wilson Sonsini represented the environmental groups in hard-fought litigation, including significant discovery and motion practice before the matter settled right before trial.
• Energy Peace Partners
  • Since helping to form and establish initial sponsorship arrangements for pro bono client Energy Peace Partners (EPP)—which leverages climate and finance solutions to promote peace in the world's most fragile regions—in 2017, attorneys in our Energy & Infrastructure group have continued to support EPP's novel efforts to expand the benefits of renewable energy to countries threatened by conflict, climate change, and energy poverty. A traditional renewable energy credit (REC) represents one megawatt hour of energy generated from renewable resources. EPP augments this concept by focusing on renewable energy projects in energy-poor countries affected by conflict, providing for Peace Renewable Energy Credits (P-RECs) with certified peacebuilding co-benefits. EPP has assisted with several P-REC projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and UN refugee camps, and recently facilitated the largest P-REC transaction to date, and the first-ever P-REC registration in South Sudan, involving 3Degrees (a U.S. and international REC broker), the International Organization for Migration, and Block (formerly Square, Inc.). This P-REC transaction will provide funding for the solar electrification of the Malakal Teaching Hospital, the main healthcare facility in its region, and serve as a funding model for other organizations involved in humanitarian and peacebuilding initiatives. Our attorneys have helped EPP draft agreements and other documents to extend the reach and impact of their P-REC programs. These efforts have included arrangements with 3Degrees for a planned aggregation fund for early-stage funding of projects throughout Africa, including Chad, Somalia, and Uganda, and foundational agreements with the International REC Standard Foundation (I-REC), which certifies the internationally recognized RECs on which EPP's P-RECs are based. Our attorneys have also assisted EPP with the incorporation of a California public benefit corporation and its application for federal nonprofit status.
• Various Clean Energy Industry Associations
  • Wilson Sonsini represents several clean energy industry associations before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and various U.S. Courts of Appeals to promote clean energy and advanced grid technologies in ways that both reduce costs for consumers and build a resilient electric grid capable of meeting the nation’s growing demand for electricity in addition to today’s climate challenges. One such example is our representation of Advanced Energy United (AEU) in various interconnection reform proceedings, including challenges to utilities’ compliance with FERC’s Order No. 2023 (a major rulemaking on grid interconnection), appeals of that order, and a challenge to MISO and SPP’s interconnection queue processes that favor incumbent. Relatedly, we aided AEU’s support of FERC’s challenge to transmission owner initial funding of interconnection-related network upgrades. Additionally, we have represented AEU in FERC’s transmission planning reforms, including an appeal of parts of Order No. 1920 (a major rulemaking on transmission) that unjustly favor utility monopoly power through rights of first refusal. Our team has also represented AEU in a challenge to the Southeast Energy Market Exchange on appeal and at FERC. In these pro bono and low bono representations, we have been strong advocates in upholding open access and competition, increasing opportunities for clean energy and advanced grid technologies, and for just and reasonable cost allocation.

We have organized numerous annual volunteer activities focused on preserving the environment in and around our local communities. For example, our employees have recently participated in the following:

• California Coastal Commission – California Coastal Clean-Up (Los Angeles, Palo Alto)
• Friends of the Urban Forest – Habitat Restoration Project (San Francisco)
• Humane Society of Silicon Valley – T-Shirts, Pull-Toys, & Plushies Project (Palo Alto)
• Keep Austin Beautiful – Park Clean-Up Project (Austin)
• LifeMoves – Earth Day Clothing Drive (Palo Alto)
• Loved Twice – Earth Day Clothing Drive (Palo Alto)
• Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, Inc. – Horticulture Project (Boston)
• Refuse Refuse – San Francisco Beautiful, Trash Clean-Up Project (San Francisco)
• Save the Bay – Habitat Restoration Projects (Palo Alto, San Francisco)
• Surfrider Foundation – Beach Clean-Up Project (San Diego)
• Trees New York – Habitat Restoration Project (New York)
• Washington Trails Association – Trail Clean-Up Project (Seattle)