Practices

Our global climate is changing significantly, and with it the legal, regulatory and business environment in which we live and work.  Climate change policies and legislation in the United States and abroad are developing rapidly in response to the growing scientific information regarding climate change.  Companies that produce carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions face significant business and financial challenges related to the emerging laws, policies and regulations.  The transportation, manufacturing, insurance, energy and power producing business sectors will be particularly vulnerable to the emerging regulatory changes.  Navigating the legal landscape, as the laws regulating the reduction of greenhouse gases develop, will require sophisticated legal representation and innovative, practical and flexible approaches and solutions.

Our global climate is changing significantly, and with it the legal, regulatory and business environment in which we live and work.  Climate change policies and legislation in the United States and abroad are developing rapidly in response to the growing scientific information regarding climate change.  Companies that produce carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions face significant business and financial challenges related to the emerging laws, policies and regulations.  The transportation, manufacturing, insurance, energy and power producing business sectors will be particularly vulnerable to the emerging regulatory changes.  Navigating the legal landscape, as the laws regulating the reduction of greenhouse gases develop, will require sophisticated legal representation and innovative, practical and flexible approaches and solutions.

Sedgwick's Climate Change Practice Group is composed of experienced environmental, commercial and insurance lawyers with the diverse skill sets necessary to address and resolve the complex legal issues confronting clients impacted by the regulation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.  The firm's climate change practice focuses on five distinct areas:

• Emissions trading and financing
• Environmental regulation, including the Clean Air Act (CAE) and Amendments
• Litigation, including International Arbitration
• Insurance underwriting and coverage
• Technology licensing and financing

Sedgwick has represented entities in the litigation and regulatory enforcement of climate change-related matters, including carbon emissions (aviation), diesel emissions (automotive), SO2 emissions (utility), NOx emissions (refinery), non-attainment areas (oxygenates, MtBE) and soil gas emissions (PCE).  Sedgwick counsels clients on such diverse issues as CAA compliance, local air board compliance, carbon footprint assessment, regulatory compliance, carbon finance, greenhouse gas emissions trading, carbon due diligence, corporate officer liability, corporate governance, insurance coverage and project development.  Our attorneys provide strategic direction to clients as they move through the carbon millennium.

The Kyoto Protocol's cap and trade system, as implemented by international structures, including the European Union's emissions trading scheme, has set the stage for a global emissions trading regime. Most countries and states have already imposed or are developing regulations that will require private industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and comply with the Kyoto Protocol.  Recent legislative initiatives, including California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32), the northeastern and mid-Atlantic states' Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, state Climate Action Registries (for banking of emission credits), the Chicago Climate Exchange, and international initiatives, like those put forward by the International Trading Association and the International Finance Corporation, will impact the greenhouse gas producing industry worldwide.  Sedgwick attorneys assist with compliance by offering expertise and creative approaches to baseline carbon foot printing, carbon sequestration, emissions offsets, verified emissions reductions, renewable energy certification, voluntary compliance, clean development mechanisms, joint implementation facilities, carbon delivery mechanisms and allowance allocations.

Sedgwick has the breadth of knowledge and experience to guide clients through the complex maze of emerging laws and regulations and provides its clients with value added solutions to their greenhouse gas emissions issues.

Our global climate is changing significantly, and with it the legal, regulatory and business environment in which we live and work.  Climate change policies and legislation in the United States and abroad are developing rapidly in response to the growing scientific information regarding climate change.  Companies that produce carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions face significant business and financial challenges related to the emerging laws, policies and regulations.  The transportation, manufacturing, insurance, energy and power producing business sectors will be particularly vulnerable to the emerging regulatory changes.  Navigating the legal landscape, as the laws regulating the reduction of greenhouse gases develop, will require sophisticated legal representation and innovative, practical and flexible approaches and solutions.

Sedgwick's Climate Change Practice Group is composed of experienced environmental, commercial and insurance lawyers with the diverse skill sets necessary to address and resolve the complex legal issues confronting clients impacted by the regulation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.  The firm's climate change practice focuses on five distinct areas:

• Emissions trading and financing
• Environmental regulation, including the Clean Air Act (CAE) and Amendments
• Litigation, including International Arbitration
• Insurance underwriting and coverage
• Technology licensing and financing

Sedgwick has represented entities in the litigation and regulatory enforcement of climate change-related matters, including carbon emissions (aviation), diesel emissions (automotive), SO2 emissions (utility), NOx emissions (refinery), non-attainment areas (oxygenates, MtBE) and soil gas emissions (PCE).  Sedgwick counsels clients on such diverse issues as CAA compliance, local air board compliance, carbon footprint assessment, regulatory compliance, carbon finance, greenhouse gas emissions trading, carbon due diligence, corporate officer liability, corporate governance, insurance coverage and project development.  Our attorneys provide strategic direction to clients as they move through the carbon millennium.

The Kyoto Protocol's cap and trade system, as implemented by international structures, including the European Union's emissions trading scheme, has set the stage for a global emissions trading regime. Most countries and states have already imposed or are developing regulations that will require private industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and comply with the Kyoto Protocol.  Recent legislative initiatives, including California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32), the northeastern and mid-Atlantic states' Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, state Climate Action Registries (for banking of emission credits), the Chicago Climate Exchange, and international initiatives, like those put forward by the International Trading Association and the International Finance Corporation, will impact the greenhouse gas producing industry worldwide.  Sedgwick attorneys assist with compliance by offering expertise and creative approaches to baseline carbon foot printing, carbon sequestration, emissions offsets, verified emissions reductions, renewable energy certification, voluntary compliance, clean development mechanisms, joint implementation facilities, carbon delivery mechanisms and allowance allocations.

Sedgwick has the breadth of knowledge and experience to guide clients through the complex maze of emerging laws and regulations and provides its clients with value added solutions to their greenhouse gas emissions issues.