ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance)
We help you identify risks and opportunities arising from the increasing focus on ESG
In a world where the geopolitical landscape is uncertain and climate change is becoming increasingly tangible, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) is evolving in its role. As it becomes more regulated through directives and laws, compliance is transforming into a strategy for managing and mitigating risks rather than focusing solely on business opportunities. ESG is now a key element in building business resilience and ensuring secure continuity. This means placing environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals at the center of corporate strategy.
As an ESG law firm with in-depth expertise across multiple sectors, we advise clients on all areas of ESG-related law. Whether they are multinationals or startups, we help address issues such as future mobility and climate change. We support the energy transition and its financing, ESG funds and green real estate finance. We advise on ESG due diligence and risk assessments, regulatory issues, sustainable supply chains, ESG reporting, corporate digital responsibility, green claims, human rights. whistleblowing, and ESG litigation.
Thanks to our integrated, multidisciplinary approach, we can anticipate the rapidly evolving ESG landscape and identify risks and opportunities. Our teams of lawyers around the world develop innovative solutions that enable clients to keep one step ahead of emerging ESG regulations and stakeholder expectations.
By working with CMS, our clients can rise to the challenge of ESG and become more resilient and compliant in the face of climate change, technological disruption, urbanisation and social concerns.
Please contact any of our ESG lawyers to find out how we can help you.
Building resilience of businesses
While our insight helps you audit ESG risks, it also helps you focus on new opportunities and markets in this area while securing a more sustainable future for us all. Whether you are looking at how you run your own business sustainably, adapting your products and services or taking advantage of new market opportunities, CMS has experts with the right expertise.
A cross-practice team of regulatory specialists monitors key guidance, consultations and regulations across multiple jurisdictions to ensure an organisation is anticipating, not just responding to, the legislative landscape around ESG. With new regulatory obligations for many, preparation and an eye to the future is key.
Companies are under increasing pressure to conduct their business in a more ethical, sustainable and climate friendly way. Failure to comply with ESG criteria can have significant legal, reputational and financial consequences and CMS can advise on what the risks are, and how to mitigate them It’s not just about compliance – sustainable organisations are also likely to be more resilient to future disruption.
We develop tools and create strategic partnerships for an easy ESG compliance.
Doing business responsibly
At CMS, we are committed to running our business ethically and sustainably. We are diverse, supportive and inclusive, taking our corporate social responsibility seriously and creating a culture of sustainability in which all our people, whatever their background, can maximise their potential and thrive.
Legal experts for ESG – Environmental, social and governance
Highlighted experience
Case studies
In February 2021, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), successfully issued the first green bond in its Green Bond Framework.
The EUR 200m bond was issued through a private placement with the French development finance institution, Agence Française de Dévelopement (AFD). The DBSA green bond issuance will be applied to projects that contribute to climate mitigation and/or adaptation, that are aligned to South Africa’s National Development Plan’ (NDP) objective of an “environmentally sustainable and equitable transition to a low carbon economy” and that are aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals. This is a sizeable and highly innovative matter with significant corporate law elements.
Green bonds aim to raise funds for environmentally aligned sustainable development projects and could thus play an important role in aiding the African continent in the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change risks. Our work on green bonds, green funds and sustainable finance disclosure requirements is market leading and is helping to shape the response of institutions to these business critical requirements, and helping to export the leading experience of Europe to the USA, Asia and Africa.
With more and more green bonds and sustainability-linked bonds being issued around the world, sustainable finance actively contributes to the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Marc–Etienne Sébire, Partner at CMS
Sustainable finance is an area of strength for the firm, including work on green funds, green bonds and sustainable finance disclosure requirements.
Legal 500, Global Green Guide 2022
The Edge Amsterdam-West is a large office building under construction in Amsterdam.
The office complex uses smart technology to create adaptable and intelligent work spaces that use significantly less electricity than comparable buildings. It has been labeled ‘the smartest building in the world’ by the media given it’s green credentials and use of technology. CMS advised Korean investor Hana Alternative Asset Management (HAAM) on the EUR 250m acquisition and development of Edge-Amsterdam West. A full service team combined its sector and technical
experts to deliver a one-stop-shop for all their legal needs. This included:
- property law
- financing
- planinng and zoning
- insurance
- intellectual property law
- acting as notary for completion
- lease law
- development/ construction law
- energy law
ESG – Environmental, social and governance Insights
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Local market knowledge. Global outlook
We provide future-facing legal advice to help your organisation thrive. Combining local market knowledge and a global perspective, and with lawyers in locations worldwide, your organisation benefits from the expertise it needs, even across borders.
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