Climate change is now at the forefront of the global public policy debate and central to many boardroom discussions. Businesses are being presented with new challenges and opportunities associated with climate change, especially as they become subject to climate change–related laws in various jurisdictions, including laws designed to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Virtually every legal regime and industry is being affected.
Torys’ cross-border Climate Change and Emissions Trading Practice brings exceptional business law expertise to the many challenges and opportunities in this complex, multifaceted field. Our interdisciplinary group draws from our depth of top-ranked expertise in a variety of fields, including
We have recently represented
- a potential acquiror of an oil sands company investment in analyzing the company's climate regulatory impact assessments
- Greening Greater Toronto in the formation of the Greening Canada Fund LP, Canada's first-ever voluntary carbon offset investment fund
- an international acquiror of NOVA Chemicals in an assessment of current requirements in Alberta affecting the target and the potential impact and risks associated with future requirements under various federal, provincial and state scenarios, including under Canada’s proposed federal framework and WCI, and in the allocation of risks associated with these potential impacts in the acquisition agreement
- major pulp and paper and industrial gas companies in their compliance with greenhouse gas regulations and negotiation of contractual greenhouse gas–management obligations
- a North American chemical manufacturer concerning eligibility for the Federal Credit for Early Action program
- a Canadian green energy trade association in its response to the proposed Ontario cap-and-trade system
- a Canadian industry association on its members’ GHG emissions reporting requirements
- a North American automotive manufacturer on climate-related litigation risk
- a major Canadian financial institution in the development of its carbon finance and trading program
- Toronto City Summit Alliance and its partner organizations in the development of the Greening Canada Fund, a fund that will allow corporations to offset GHG emissions by funding non-profit, public sector and other projects to reduce greenhouse gases
- an Alberta-based subsidiary of a global company in one of the largest compliance-based emissions trades in Canada to date (under the intensity-based cap-and-trade regime in Alberta)
- Ontario Power Generation in the development of the 550 MW CCGT Portlands Energy Centre in Toronto
- National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy’s regulatory and legal issues concerning adaptation to climate change in northern Canada