Linklaters, DLA Piper and Allen & Overy are among a raft of major law firms to have signed up to a public commitment to cut their carbon emissions.

The firms are among 20 'executive' members of the Legal Sector Alliance – a group of law firms and organisations working to reduce Co2 emissions in the legal industry – to agree public targets from the next financial year.

The firms have been advised to follow the Carbon Trust's recommendation of cutting 2%-4% of carbon emissions annually, in order to meet Government targets for cutting UK emissions by 2050.

Linklaters has set itself a target to reduce its carbon emissions by 4.3% in 2011-12, alongside a long-term target to cut carbon emissions by 45% from a 2006-07 baseline by 2050..

Linklaters environment manager Leilani Weier commented: "We see ourselves as a responsible business and it's our responsibility to help reduce carbon emissions, whether that is through better building management, upgrading our lighting to motion sensors or introducing telepresence to reduce travel."

Other LSA executive members include Bond Pearce, Burges Salmon, Dickinson Dees, Eversheds, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith, Hogan Lovells, Irwin Mitchell, Martineau, Addleshaw Goddard, Morgans, Slaughter and May, SJ Berwin, Taylor Wessing, Norton Rose and Simmons & Simmons.

The LSA has a total of 215 member firms covering 30% of the solicitors in private practice in England and Wales. The body says that its executive members are committed to taking leadership roles in cutting Co2 emissions in the legal industry. Member firms calculate their carbon emissions and reduction commitments using a carbon protocol developed by the LSA.

LSA chairman and DLA Piper managing partner Nigel Knowles (pictured) commented: "LSA members have consistently taken a leadership position on climate change and we recognise that by publicly committing to carbon reduction targets we are continuing to drive change and real carbon reduction across the profession."