Commercial Related Services
Due Diligence Investigations
Warburton Attorneys is well placed to undertake environmental due diligence investigations associated with the commercial transaction focussed assessment of environmental legal liabilities and risks. These services may be provided directly to clients involved in the transaction or as a specialist service to other attorneys advising on the transaction.
A particular project type for which we provide such due diligence services are those that seek to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to the legal risks commonly associated with the implementation of infrastructure projects, greenhouse gas mitigation projects bear the added risk of being required to adhere to compliance requirements that flow from the following:
- the international climate change regime;
- the domestic environmental and commercial legal regime; and,
- the interaction of the international and the domestic legal regimes.
A due diligence report for a greenhouse gas mitigation project will, in addition to assessing the compliance of the project under each of the abovementioned legal categories, consider a range of relevant climate change commercial issues and seek to provide concrete and pragmatic recommendations to assist in progressing project implementation.
Due diligence investigations are also essential to informing our provision of appropriate assistance in drafting contractual clauses for purposes of allocating such liabilities and the transfer of risks, both climate change-related risks and other risks.
Contractual Advice
Warburton Attorneys is in a position to assist in the drafting of sustainability-related contractual clauses for purposes of commercial and other contracts, whether directly to clients involved in the commercial venture or as a specialist service to other attorneys.
Assistance associated with a commercial transaction and due diligence investigations may also include drafting or advising on appropriate sustainability related contractual provisions in lease and property sale agreements, loan agreements (where lender environmental liability issues may be relevant), servitudes, employment or service contracts, consultancy agreements, etc.
In addition to the drafting of approprate clauses informed by due diligence processes, Warburton Attorneys has highly specialised expertise in the drafting and negotiation of climate change-related contracts, for example: Emission Reduction Purchase Agreements (ERPAs) for the purchase and sale of carbon credits, as well as Project Development Contracts for the assisted implementation of greenhouse mitigation projects and Co-operation Agreements aimed at promoting efficient project implementation.
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