Environmental and water law
Our enthusiastic and engaged environmental team is described by the Legal 500 (2007 ed.) as “one to watch at the moment”. Resources, industrial and energy companies, among others, look to our environment team for up-to-date, in-context knowledge on how local, pan-African and international environment legislation affects them.
We assist clients across South Africa and Africa to accommodate the need for environmental protection and to avoid the inevitable conflict arising from non-compliance with existing and emerging environmental laws.
We have responded to the increasing demand for services regarding environmental legislation by creating a multi-disciplinary environmental law division.
Clients
The environmental team’s clients range from banks to energy companies, and fall into two broad categories:
- Stand-alone clients, the list of which is substantial and includes energy companies and industrial clients; and
- Companies for whom we act as a service group to support our corporate and banking practices, including leading corporates as well as banking clients.
Services
We assist clients to accommodate the need for environmental protection and to avoid the inevitable conflict arising from non-compliance, by assessment of, and legal advice on:
- Legislation relating to the environment and water
- Risk assessment
- Environmental impact assessments and reports
- Civil litigation
- Criminal prosecutions and liability
- Environmental dispute resolution through mediation
- Representations to public authorities
- Developments in environmental and water law
- Environmental management assessment
- Mining rehabilitation obligations
- Corporate environmental policy planning
- Environmental due diligence assessment
- Contractual compliance
- International environmental obligations
- Directors' liability
- Eco-tourism
- Environmental auditing
- Public and private partnerships
- Regulatory compliance
- Water pollution claims
- Water rights disputes
- Water use advice
Expertise
Our environmental experience on transactional matters includes carrying out due diligence and advising on risk allocation and lender liability issues. Our enthusiastic and pro-active environmental team understands that businesses seeking the highest quality of legal advice require environmental lawyers with national and international technical legal expertise, regulatory experience and commercial awareness.
We offer
- African expertise, an international perspective, and an appreciation of the scientific, political, and economic processes that surround environmental legislation.