Energy & Natural Resources Law & Lawyers

Energy and Natural Resources Law is regulated by statutes, common law, treaties, conventions, regulations and policies. The purpose is reducing or minimizing the impacts of human activity, both on the natural environment for its own sake and on humanity itself. Natural Resources Law includes land, wildlife, air, water and other resources.

Legal issues facing the energy and natural resources sector

The twin challenges of delivering energy security and reducing greenhouse emissions are hot topics domestically, within Australia and indeed globally as people become increasingly concerned by the need to ensure continuity of energy supply and the impacts of climate change and global warming. It is a complicated area, where detailed knowledge of the relevant legal issues affecting the energy sector needs to be allied to an acute understanding of the commercial challenges.

How lawyers can help energy and natural resources sector organisations with their legal needs

Lawyers can have specialist expertise in energy sector legal issues needed to advise domestic and international energy and utility companies operating in this highly regulated industry.

Energy lawyers have extensive experience and expertise in a wide range of oil, gas, electricity, nuclear and renewable and sustainable energy projects as well as planning, environment, climate change, construction, competition and planning law.

If you would like legal help regarding Energy Law, then please complete your free legal enquiry on the right, or click here.

Energy & Natural Resources Regulations

With developing technologies and a global market heavily influenced by progressive ideas, consequential CO2 and greenhouse emission issues are well promoted causes, both commercially and socially.

The primary environmental issues addressed in law and domestically are:

• delivering energy security
• reducing greenhouse emissions

An increasing awareness of environmental issues is continually expanding within Europe and other parts of the globe, with a legal framework rapidly growing, outlining rules and regulations to help address the complex area.

Energy and natural resources law consists of detailed information regarding applicable legal issues touching the energy sector, covering questionable areas in topics relating to commercial challenges with environmental implications.

Many corporate entities address additional environmental issues as a part of the companies Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Specifically questioned areas in employer and business environmental CSR frameworks are:

• unnecessary energy usage
• preserve natural resources
• recycling and waste
• corporate travel

If you would like legal help regarding Energy Law, then please complete your free legal enquiry on the right, or click here.

Energy sector legal issues are encompassed in highly regulated industry areas, including; domestic energy, international energy, and utility companies.

Major players within the energy industry operate within a competitive but highly regulated framework dictated by energy and natural resources law, covering:

• oil
• gas
• LPG
• electricity
• nuclear energy
• renewable energy
• sustainable energy

Through the regulatory implications of energy and natural resources law, corporate and domestic strategies are now encouraged to encompass areas such as:

• environment planning
• climate change
• construction implications
• competition
• planning law

Climate change related legal issues within a commercial environment include areas in:

• emissions trading and carbon reduction rules and regulations
• climate change levy and associated rebate agreements
• negotiations and discussions with regulators concerning issues arising regarding environmental schemes
• adjustments, applications and transfers necessary to authorise allocations in the event a business or site changes hands, starts-up or closes
• development mechanisms (CDM), and joint implementation projects (JI)
• sale and purchase of carbon credits
• carbon consultants / carbon offsetting companies
• carbon footprint management projects
• drafting and negotiating emissions trading and contracts

If you would like legal help regarding Energy Law, then please complete your free legal enquiry on the right, or click here.

Further Resources