Environment

Legacy liabilities for contamination are a common issue for industrial and extractive sector clients. We have experience in negotiating proportionate allocation of contamination liabilities and mechanisms for remediation, and we can support you in regulatory engagements where you are alleged to be a responsible party. We also act on regulatory and civil disputes relating to contamination liabilities.

After a period when emissions trading was not a major area of concern, companies are starting to face increased regulatory requirements regarding emissions compliance and this trend is set to deepen over the next ten years. We work closely with our clients to help them integrate emissions costs and constraints into their operating strategy and decision-making processes. We also support clients who trade in the voluntary markets or through regulated trading schemes, and we also advise on the acquisition or disposals of trading businesses. Our experience includes working on industrial and programmatic emission reduction programs as well as forestry and agriculture related projects.

Regulatory imperatives and the enforcement of existing environmental requirements are important not only in relation to operational compliance, but also for project development. Project developers need to pay close attention from the outset to ensure that their permitting procedures are sufficiently robust to manage exposure to future third party challenges and associated risks. Operators will want to maintain good relationships with regulators and other stakeholders to optimise their flexibility in planning in any required upgrades. Our team provides strategic legal advice to help you meet these challenges in a timely and cost effective manner. We cooperate closely with technical environmental experts and relevant regulatory authorities.

We have a wide ranging regulatory practice, which focuses on complex regulatory analysis including in relation to biodiversity, chemicals, carbon emissions, contaminated land, decommissioning, nuclear regulation, permitting, and waste disposal and transfrontier shipment.

We advise on health and safety regulation and we can also help if things go badly wrong. Our advisory practice typically focuses on complex regulatory analysis and on supporting clients to develop effective safety governance and management systems. Our team has experience of advising on major safety related incidents as part of our crisis practice. We also advise on the growing trend to impose parent level liability under tort laws or under regulatory duties of vigilance including in respect of supply chain issues.

‘Cradle to grave' product stewardship is now a familiar concept, and we advise on product regulation and product governance issues in many sectors. Typically, a failure to comply means the product cannot be placed on the market where the breach has occurred and so compliance is important to get right.

Our team has a wealth of experience in this area and we work hard to make the complex, simpler. We can provide experts across our markets to assess product regulation and to support you where you are facing a challenging issue in relation to product or component quality or compliance.

We also advise on major product safety related incidents and crises as part of our wider crisis practice. Should the need arise, we can help with regulatory and liability analysis and strategy and also support you in relation to the challenging communication issues that can often arise.

We are highly experienced in providing environmental, social, health and safety and product related advice in the context of mergers and acquisitions, de-mergers, IPOs, joint ventures and project financings. We are recognised leaders in the application of international environmental and social standards in financing transactions, including in relation to sensitive issues such as stakeholder engagement, resettlement, biodiversity and climate and human rights assessments.

We focus on providing practical, strategic advice that enables our clients to negotiate robust, workable provisions on the allocation of operational and long tail risks. Our transactional work includes: due diligence, including working with technical consultants, contractual drafting, and ensuring the effective transfer of environmental incentives, credits and allowances, and permits, advice on disclosures and risk factors in public offer documents.

Waste storage and disposal is highly regulated in most countries and the export of waste to emerging markets is a growing area of regulatory focus. We provide clients with advice on the application of waste law to their businesses and on transfrontier shipment issues. We have experience supporting clients under investigation from their regulators, and in defending prosecutions and/or developing mitigation strategies.