Climate Change

Climate change is one of the most complex issues facing businesses today and into the foreseeable future. Domestic and international response to climate change is accelerating. New laws, policies and voluntary commitments are affecting the economy across sectors and jurisdictions. Navigating these evolving actions requires precisely the type of multidisciplinary approach that has long been Akin’s trademark.

Our climate change practitioners understand the significant and complex business and economic challenges our clients face, as new laws and regulations are emerging to require the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the identification, disclosure and response to climate change risks.

Clients must overcome the legal obstacles that confront businesses responding to these challenges and turn these risks into opportunities while simultaneously navigating shifting political, economic, regulatory and social landscapes. Coordinating these efforts is among the greatest challenges facing our clients. We succeed for our clients by leveraging our breadth of knowledge and experience to create comprehensive solutions to sustainability concerns.

Our multidisciplinary climate change practice comprises partners and advisors in our domestic & international policy, environmental & energy regulatory, corporate, investment funds, tax policy, trade, litigation, private equity, global transactions and intellectual property practices. The practice operates in the United States and internationally and thrives in large measure due to our significant experience in and/or relationships with all three branches of the U.S. government, as well as with the United Nations, including the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), multilateral institutions, including the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, and other key international organizations and processes.

We are devoted to assisting our clients find cost-effective and often competitively advantageous means to manage climate issues and pursue new business opportunities. This involves working with clients to develop unique legal and strategic advice to help clients navigate international, federal and state programs, advocate and lobby on behalf of our clients. We bring a pragmatic, business-oriented perspective to our clients’ issues developed through representing public- and private-sector clients in the U.S. and abroad and informed by our practitioners’ varied experience in business, government, public interest and politics.

Representative Matters

Represented a major auto industry company in a negotiation of agreement with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to sustain year-over-year GHG emission reductions despite less stringent federal standards.
Advised financial institutions on a broad range of issues regarding participation in voluntary and compliance carbon markets in California, Asia, Canada and Europe.
Provided regular counseling on EPA GHG tailpipe regulations and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration fuel economy regulations for heavy-duty and light-duty vehicles (trucks, buses and cars).
Provided extensive analysis and stakeholder mapping on the California Cap and Trade Program, the European Emissions Trading System, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and other climate compliance markets.
Advised clients on carbon “neutral transactions” and other climate-related claims, including on the Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides.

Services In-Depth

Domestic Policy

Our team tracks law and policy developments, frames issues and advocates on behalf of clients before Congress, executive agencies and offices, and the states. Our relationships and knowledge of the processes involved in U.S. policy-making are deep, specific and direct, covering the full spectrum of political leadership in the U.S. government on issues such as carbon pricing, clean energy standards, renewable energy standards, low-carbon fuels, carbon capture and storage, clean technologies, tax policy and other incentive programs.

Environmental and Energy Regulatory

We provide environmental counseling services, including compliance and mitigation strategies, and on regulatory actions related to mobile and stationary sources of GHGs, energy efficiency of consumer and commercial products, renewable fuels, environmental permitting, carbon markets emissions trading, and certification, monitoring and verification of emission reduction and carbon offset strategies, hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phase out incentives, and other climate related issues before the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Energy (DOE).

International Policy

We track law and policy developments in the United Kingdom and European Union and advocate on behalf of clients before the UNFCCC and the convention of the party processes, multilateral environmental treaty secretariats, the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and other international forums.

International Trade

Our lawyers apply their extensive experience and knowledge with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and related U.S. and multilateral institutions, trade regulations, clean technology transfer and financing mechanisms, including a full range of intellectual property protection and enforcement services.

Litigation

We provide litigation counsel to clients affected by greenhouse gas and climate change-related lawsuits involving issues such as environmental impact statements, nuisance/torts, permitting, corporate disclosure and administrative rulemaking.

Energy and Environmental

We provide environmental counseling services, including compliance and mitigation strategies, permitting, carbon emissions trading and offsets, and certification, monitoring and verification of emission reduction strategies.

Investment Funds and Private Equity

We represent purchasers and originators of project-based greenhouse gas emissions credits, as well as brokers, traders, investment banks, hedge funds, compliance purchasers and others making investments and managing risk related to energy, clean technologies and tradable environmental attributes.

Global Transactions

We advise clients through the entire project development process, from concept to completion, including creating opportunities to monetize carbon assets and offset carbon footprints. Our lawyers possess particular knowledge and experience in the energy and transportation sectors, which have high exposure in a carbon-constrained economy.

Environmental Social Governance

We advise clients on the intersection of GHG regulations and voluntary targets, including through use of carbon offsets, carbon capture and storage and innovation.