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International Energy and Climate Change Law Firm

Today’s energy sector requires expertise in global geopolitics, economics and regulation; but, rather than becoming more standardised and commoditised, the sector’s pace of change is accelerating. CMS teams work across the globe to help meet the demands of climate change, technological disruption, urbanisation in developing economies, social concerns and political agendas.

Our early work in designing and implementing modern energy markets – and subsequently guiding the sector’s push to decarbonisation – means CMS is not simply a transactional or project adviser, but is ideally placed to help shape its future.

We have supported the success of our clients by recognising the sector’s growing diversity and by working actively against 'silo thinking'. We are market-leading, global advisers on:

  • Oil & gas exploration and production
  • Mid-stream activities,
  • Traditional or newer electricity generation technologies
  • Energy transition and climate change strategies
  • Energy efficiency
  • Project finance
  • M&A
  • Disputes or regulatory and commercial issues
  • Hydrogen

Thanks to our cross-sectoral knowledge and expertise, we help ensure clients receive the advice best suited to their commercial needs and to our collective future.

Get in touch with our International Energy & Climate Change team to find out more about how we can help.

24/10/2023
CMS European Energy Sector M&A and Investment Outlook 2024
As the world economy increasingly embraces the push towards decarbonisation, Europe has actively sought to place itself at the vanguard of the discussion on energy trans­ition. Op­por­tun­it­ies to deploy capital abound as power sources switch further towards offshore and onshore wind, solar, heat, hydrogen, battery storage, new networks, carbon capture, and industrial decarbonisation. The latter brings an interface with other sectors such as technology companies (with power hungry data centres a particular focus), real estate, low carbon transport and decarbonisation of industrial processes such as cement, glass and steel production. As much as it is difficult, complex and highly political, the energy transition is also a huge business opportunity. To reach net zero by 2050, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that global investment in clean energy alone will need to increase from the USD390bn in the first half of 2023, to USD 1.3tn in 2030. Many commentators worried that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would put back the transition and shift Europe back towards fossil fuels. While it appears to have resulted in a renewed political focus on energy security it has also laid bare the financial and political consequences of relying on oil & gas imports, giving further impetus to renewables as a secure form of energy. Europe has also sought to be a leading light on the concept of “reaching net zero”, with the European Union (EU) having set out its ambition, back in 2019, to become the world’s first major economic bloc to be climate-neutral by 2050. This has added momentum to energy investment and M&A over recent years – 2021 and 2022 saw the second and third highest annual aggregate values of Western European M&A in the sector on record, at USD 59.8bn and USD 53.7bn, respectively, bested only by the anomalously high total of USD 89.4bn logged in 2018. Energy M&A in the region has been more subdued in 2023, but our survey demonstrates that energy executives are gearing up for a more active dealmaking period, with most expecting more opportunities and anticipating increased levels of investment in the year ahead. Capital looks set to continue to flow primarily to renewable energy projects and related assets, with solar and batteries topping the list of attractive subsectors among our respondents. Consistent with this, South West Europe takes pole position as the most promising region for investment opportunities. But there are thorns among the roses. Our respondents are cognizant of the challenges in the energy market, with supply-chain volatility and commodity price increases emerging as a prominent concern. This is unsurprising after a period of dislocation following the pandemic and amid a time of rising global demand for renewable products and commodities. Persistent inflation and elevated interest rates, combined with an uncertain macroeconomic outlook, are raising investors’ concerns, with financing risk (including the increased cost of financing) also coming to the fore for respondents. Overall, while some sense a recent softening of the market due to these fundamentals, our survey paints a picture of steadily improving investor sentiment in Europe’s energy sector, laying the foundations for a busier period ahead for M&A activity.
14/09/2023
Energy Transition 2023
As the world seeks to balance energy security and affordability with the broadly agreed imperative to address carbon emissions, this report seeks to provide a timely update on how major oil and gas companies are navigating the energy transition based on an analysis of their published data.
CMS Energy & Climate Change Global Experience
With more than 450 energy and climate change lawyers, including over 100...

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27/03/2024
CMS Expert Guide to plastics and packaging laws
Plastics and packaging have attracted  consumer, media and legislative interest over recent years with an array of laws being proposed to incentivise behavioural and design change. Significant reforms...
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22/03/2024
Dutch energy regulator to tolerate cable pooling for batteries
On 14 March 2024 the director of the ACM, the Netherland’s energy market authority, announced that ACM will tolerate the use of cable pooling for batteries in anticipation of new legislation formally...
21/03/2024
Green derivatives demystified: Legal insights into sustainable finance
Join us for an insightful webinar as we explore the future of finance, focusing on sustainable investment and carbon offsetting strategies to support your business decisions. This webinar will be of particular value for project investment bankers, private equity investors, and companies in the energy and large manufacturing sectors, looking to enhance their strategies with sustainable and financially savvy solutions. The webinar will cover the following topics and will conclude with a Q&A ses­sion:Sus­tain­ab­il­ity-linked derivatives (SLD)Financial power purchase agree­ments­Man­dat­ory carbon offset: EU emission al­low­ances­Vol­un­tary carbon offset
19/03/2024
Hungary adopts new regulations on occupational Safety and Health fines...
The Hungarian parliament recently adopted amendments to certain government regulations on occupational matters, and new government regulations on the detailed rules for the amount and imposition of occupational...
12/03/2024
Significant steps taken to implement Early Competition in onshore transmission...
On 20th February 2024 the Electricity (Criteria for Relevant Electricity Projects) (Transmission) Regulations (the “Reg­u­la­tions”) were published. Due to come into force on 12th March 2024, the Regulations...
12/03/2024
Ukraine launches official website of the Register of Damage
On 4 March 2024, the official website of the Register of Damage for Ukraine was launched. The website sheds light on the forthcoming modes of operation of the Register of Damage and outlines the general...
12/03/2024
After EU Commission's first decision on Carbon Contracts for Difference,...
The European Commission approved the first Carbon Contracts for Difference (CCfD) scheme under the new Guidelines on State aid for climate, environmental protection and energy 2022 (CEEAG).Fol­low­ing the...
07/03/2024
CMS Expert Guide to renewable energy
The Renewables Sector is now many decades old and considered a mature investment sector by many. Yet the issues it faces continue to evolve and grow at pace with the evolution and growth of the sector...
06/03/2024
Spring Budget 2024 – key tax announcements
Against the backdrop of an election (probably) later this year, the Chancellor was evidently feeling the pressure to make tax announcements that would find favour with the electorate, whilst constrained...
05/03/2024
European Commission authorises EUR 550 million Italian hydrogen aid scheme
On 30 January 2024, the European Commission authorised an Italian hydrogen aid scheme with a budget of EUR 550 million under the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework.The Green Deal industrial planThe...
04/03/2024
Implementation of Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework in Slovakia:...
The European Commission adopted the Temporary Crisis Framework and then the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (TCTF) to mitigate the economic consequences caused by Russia's invasion and ongoing...
01/03/2024
ESG Reporting Requirements and Best Practices: NSTA Issues Open Letter...
The introduction into the NSTA Strategy in 2021 of obligations in relation to “corporate governance” raised questions as to the approach that the North Sea Transition Authority (“NSTA”) would...