Allan Wernham: Striving hard to make sustainable changes to safeguard the future

While business is expected to take a leading role in this ambition, it can’t be expected to carry the full burden – governments and, crucially, individuals will need to step up too.

There is a long journey ahead, and it is important to acknowledge the sustainability-focused changes in multiple industry sectors now, including energy where many traditional oil and gas firms are taking a leading role in transitioning to lower-carbon alternatives.

The food and drink sector, including whisky producers, is among other sectors developing innovative solutions to promote greater sustainability.

The innovation coming from business requires further support, including incentives, from government, but the net-zero jigsaw involves all of us as individuals. Many of us will have to make different choices in how we live to affect change. We need to begin this process through a school curriculum that is more STEM-focused to give the required grounding young people will need to address these challenges.

CMS is proud to be at the forefront of this challenge. We have partnered with education charity Young Citizens to create Climate Action: Using the Law to Drive Change, a new programme to develop UK secondary school students’ understanding and critical thinking around climate action, including a focus on UN Sustainable Development Goals, why they are important and how they are monitored.

There is still so much to do in achieving net-zero, but by working together – with business, government and individuals all committing to sustainable measures going forward – we can achieve this critical goal and safeguard a better future for generations to come.

- Allan Wernham is Managing director (Scotland) at CMS

This article first appeared in The Scotsman's Legal Review 2021