Allens Arthur Robinson: Carbon Central

About Allens

Allens Arthur Robinson (Allens) is an international law firm with 15 offices in Australia, South East Asia and China. The firm has been ranked regularly by Chambers Global as a leading firm in areas including banking and finance, capital markets, corporate/M&A, dispute resolution, energy and natural resources, environment, insurance, intellectual property, native title, projects, restructuring/insolvency, telecommunications, media and technology and tax.

One of the largest law firms in Australia, Allens has 880 lawyers, including 196 partners.

We provide a full range of commercial legal services to many of the region’s leading corporations and government organisations, including 60 of Australia’s, and 45 of the world’s, top 100 companies.

What sets us apart?

Allens specialises in handling complex and difficult transactions that require exceptional legal, negotiation and project management skills.

We interpret and understand the law, but more importantly:

combine commerciality and creativity with rigorous legal analysis;
work with clients to develop successful legal strategies;
understand and explain to clients the range of legal options available;
offer market knowledge;
work to understand our clients’ style and approach to risk; and
work to understand, communicate and collaborate with our clients’ representatives and consultants.

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Climate Change

Climate change is one of the most significant economic, legal and political issues of our time. In an area where the law is changing rapidly and constantly developing, our lawyers have the skills and dedication to deliver innovative commercial and legal solutions to respond to the issues presented by climate change.

Our Climate Change Group

Allens’ Climate Change Group lawyers are taking a leading role in advising clients on projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon capture and storage projects and forestry sequestration. They have extensive experience in the renewable energy sector, which spans all aspects of new projects, from environmental and planning studies and project financing, to design, construction, and continuing operation of projects. Allens is also at the forefront of legal developments on greenhouse gas emissions from mining projects and the potential for offsetting those emissions.

Members of the Allens Climate Change Group have also been involved in advising various governments on the design and implementation of their carbon trading and abatement schemes, and in advising industry participants on the operation of the schemes. In addition, our Climate Change Group has been very active in advising major corporates on their obligations under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme (NGERS) and on the opportunities and risks arising out of the Federal Government’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS – Australia’s emissions trading scheme).

Our Climate Change Specialists

Our Climate Change Group draws together specialists from across the firm’s Australian and international offices, combining lawyers from our energy, resources, finance, corporate, environmental, tax, IT, litigation and infrastructure practice areas.

Our team has been involved in groundbreaking work in Australia and across Asia and is led by partner Grant Anderson. Grant is a climate change specialist with particular expertise in the energy sector. He regularly advises on investments in renewable energy and low-emissions projects, as well as on energy-related contracts (such as power purchase agreements, gas transportation agreements, electricity and gas sale agreements, and hedges) many of which have a ‘green’ certificate component.

Grant is also advising companies in a range of different industries on the application to them of the NGERS, and the risks and opportunities they face as a result of the proposed CPRS.

As the spokesperson for Allens’ Climate Change Group, Grant is regularly sought by Australian and international media for comment in relation to the development and impact of climate change law on businesses and industry sectors. With an extensive history of acting for coal-fired electricity generators, Grant is at the forefront of how climate change law will impact clients in the energy and resources sectors.

Grant has also written a series of articles on emissions trading, which can be accessed at http://www.aar.com.au/pubs/cc/index.htm. Over the past 12 months alone, Grant has authored 20 publications on climate change legal issues, including a comprehensive comparison of climate change policies across 13 countries in the Asia Pacific Region. To view the report, click here (PDF 3MB).

Grant and other members of Allens’ Climate Change Group also regularly report, dissect and analyse climate change issues at their blog: http://allensclimate.blogspot.com/

Our experience

Australia has been at the forefront in developing climate change law over the past 12 months. Dominating energy sector reform and the agendas of both federal and state Australian governments, climate change policy was one of the most heavily publicised areas of legal development in the Asia-Pacific region in 2008 and 2009.

With an extensive history of acting for energy and resources clients, Allens has been at the forefront of climate change legal issues and been providing pre-eminent advice to clients in Australia and Asia, including on:

the impact of the proposed CPRS;
obligations under the NGERS;
the design of the proposed CPRS, as set out in the Australian Government’s Green and White papers and its exposure draft and introduced CPRS legislation;
the Australian Government’s proposals for the design of its 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target Scheme;
carbon capture and storage and the Commonwealth’s exposure draft legislation to regulate offshore carbon capture and storage;
legal developments on greenhouse gas emissions from mining projects and the potential for offsetting those emissions;
the design and implementation of Australian state based trading and abatement schemes (such as the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Scheme), and their impact on electricity sector participants;
forestry sequestration;
new tax incentives available for renewable energy projects in the People’s Republic of China under the PRC Enterprises Income Tax Law 2008;
the PRC’s new renewable energy goals, which include doubling its goal for installed capacity of wind power by 2010 and setting targets for installed capacity by 2010 in relation to specific renewable energy sectors; and
projects developed under the Clean Development Mechanism (such as methane gas capture and electricity conversion projects in the PRC).