Emissions & climate protection

The legal framework for protecting human health and the environment from these impacts is extremely complex. The Federal Immission Control Act is supplemented by numerous legal ordinances and technical administrative regulations, such as the TA Luft (Technical Instructions on Air Quality Control), which are subject to increasingly rapid change.

We advise on all issues relating to emission control law. This includes clarifying strategic preliminary questions regarding the selection of the right types of plants and processes and the need for approval, as well as supporting notification and approval procedures, in particular for production facilities.

Furthermore, climate change caused by the release of greenhouse gases requires a transformation of the economy towards a climate-neutral way of doing business. Companies in all sectors of the economy are affected by the necessary transformation process. Climate protection law is developing very dynamically: in addition to the Europe-wide trading system for greenhouse gas emission allowances and climate protection planning strongly influenced by the EU, there are a large number of national regulations – in Germany, for example, additional trading in allowances for emissions from fuels under the Fuel Emissions Trading Act with supplementary measures to prevent carbon leakage. Companies are increasingly under considerable pressure – not least due to so-called climate protection lawsuits – to implement climate-neutral production methods and business models.

As legal advisors to companies, we advise our clients on the legal aspects of developing climate-neutral business models, including measures for the circular economy, and enforce claims for subsidies under the BEHG Carbon Leakage Regulation, for example. We are committed to shaping a legal framework that enables the transformation of the economy towards climate neutrality, for example through the use of Carbon Contracts for Difference (CCfD) and the promotion of new technologies. In connection with the use of carbon capture & storage/utilisation (CCS/CCU), direct air carbon capture & storage/utilisation (DACCS/DACCU) and bioenergy with carbon capture & storage/utilisation (BECCS/BECCU), we draw on our specialisation in mining law. We assess climate protection law risks and represent clients in climate protection lawsuits. We also use our special expertise in water law to help manage climate change events such as heavy rainfall, flooding and droughts as well as their consequences.