Environmental issues have taken on increasing importance for industrial, services and public services organisations together with heightened awareness of a social responsibility to understand and reduce environmental impact. Health security, climate change, the rapid development of opportunities in the renewable energy sector, risk management and land contamination, are just some of the evolving issues these organisations must confront. To assist you in meeting these environmental law challenges, CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre provides in-depth knowledge of your sector, synergy between our offices and those of other CMS firms, and the legal and practical knowledge of our lawyers.

Our Practice Areas

• Managing land contamination, surface and groundwater, remediation, determination of environmental liability issues
• Registered installations for environmental protection (ICPE) - notification (déclaration), operating permit, monitoring/compliance, end of installation (lifespan), definitive shut-down
• Water law
• Waste Management Law
• Health and safety – including Asbestos, lead and PCBs issues management
• CO2 Emissions
• Environmental taxation

Our Approach 

To better advise you, we bring together qualified specialists (energy, public law, criminal law, tax...) able to provide comprehensive advice on a wide range of matters such as:

• Legal advice, opinions and assistance on environmental law aspects
• Environmental audits and environmental risk assessment upon sales, transfers or acquisitions
• Drawing up contracts for all types of transactions
• Transaction management – advice to buyers, sellers, lessors, lessees, borrowers and lending institutions in case of acquisitions and sales, mergers, etc.
• Drafting environmental contractual provisions and liability guarantees
• Legal representation of clients in their disputes relating to their environment matters (civil, criminal and administrative)

Our Clients

We assist public bodies, developers, investors and sponsors involved in environmental projects in an advisory capacity and in litigation. Our clients include local, regional and national authorities in France and overseas, public and private companies, niche operators, multinationals, investment funds, and start-ups.

Our Team

Environmental matters concern different areas of the law at the national and international levels. Our lawyers therefore take a multidisciplinary approach from the environmental and public law perspective, but also from the perspective of business law, competition, employment and tax law. They work in close collaboration with our experts based in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.