Decarbonisation and Climate Risk

With more than 800 energy and climate change lawyers, including over 200 partners, the CMS Energy and Climate Change practice is one of the largest of its kind in the world. Led from its centres of excellence such as London and Aberdeen, the practice works across over 80 offices globally. Our early work in designing and implementing modern energy markets and subsequently guiding the sector in the push to decarbonisation means CMS is not only a transactional or project adviser to the sector, but uniquely placed to help shape its present and future.

Our recent experience related to decarbonisation and climate risk includes advising:

• BP on the UK’s most advanced carbon capture project in the UK’s first zero-carbon industrial cluster, the Net Zero Teesside Project.
• BP, Eni, Equinor, Shell and Total and OGCI Climate Investment LLPs on their development of the Clean Gas Project.
• ACCIONA on a five-year Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) with multinational automotive manufacturer Brembo to partially offset the energy needs of its production plants in Poland and contribute to Brembo's path towards its decarbonisation and sustainability programs.
• SSE on the sale of its contracting division to the Aurelius Group for £27.5m. It forms part of SSE’s strategy to focus on its core networks and renewable energy businesses, for which it has a £2 bn disposals programme designed to support the strategic shift.
• International and national companies and investors on their own/global group’s international and national compliance (often through very complex corporate structures) with energy efficiency, carbon schemes and environment reporting requirements.
• Various landlords on the impact of the coming into force of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) pursuant to the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations.
• A major client on the new Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting regime (SECR) compliance.
• Northern Ireland Water on the successful award of its multi-million pound partnership for the development of an innovative Oxygen and Hydrogen Demonstrator Project that will deploy a state-of-the-art, 1 Megawatt electrolyser at the Belfast wastewater treatment site. In addition to using the oxygen produced for enhancing the wastewater treatment process, the green hydrogen produced will be used to fuel NIW’s vehicle fleet with the aim of helping kick start the hydrogen economy in Northern Ireland.
• Air Products, a leading industrial gases company on the establishment of a joint venture (JV) with ArcelorMittal for the construction of a new modern air separation unit at the ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih steel plant in Ukraine. The new on-site air separation unit will employ state-of-the-art technology to produce industrial gases safely and reliably for ArcelorMittal's Kryvyi Rih steel works and other customers in Ukraine and beyond. The new facility will reduce the annual energy consumption of the steel plant in line with ArcelorMittal’s environmental targets and ESG strategy.

To find out more about other related services you can visit the Energy & Climate Change expertise section.