Environmental

Environmental and sustainability obligations now shape how organisations plan, invest and operate. Decarbonisation targets, climate risk and evolving Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) regulation increasingly determine whether projects are fundable, deliverable and resilient over the long term. If you are making decisions around development, regeneration, asset management or procurement, environmental law is rarely a discrete issue; it cuts across governance, funding, contracts and delivery.

Devonshires’ environmental and sustainability team advises clients at these critical decision points. We help you move forward with confidence by translating complex regulation into clear, practical steps that support delivery while managing risk. Our advice is grounded in how projects actually work, supporting you from early strategy and planning through procurement, construction, operation and long-term stewardship.

Environmental law at Devonshires is deliberately integrated. Our environmental lawyers work alongside planning, real estate, construction, corporate, finance and governance specialists, ensuring advice reflects the commercial, operational and public law realities you face. This approach is particularly valuable where environmental compliance intersects with funding conditions, procurement rules, landlord and tenant relationships or public sector decision-making

As an established environmental law firm with long-standing expertise in the built environment and public sector, we regularly advise on environmental compliance, ESG governance, biodiversity obligations and net zero strategies. If you need an experienced environmental compliance lawyer to manage immediate regulatory exposure, or strategic support from environmental solicitors to plan ahead, our focus is on keeping matters moving and decisions defensible.

Our Services

Our environmental and sustainability practice supports developers, registered providers, local authorities, investors and commercial occupiers across advisory, transactional and contentious matters. If you are planning, delivering or operating assets in a tightening regulatory environment, we can help you understand what is required and how best to implement it.

We advise on:

• ESG and sustainability strategies, including governance frameworks, disclosure obligations and alignment with evolving policy and regulatory requirements
• ESCO and energy arrangements, covering Energy Supply Agreements, customer supply contracts, tenant consultation, management company structures, funding, maintenance arrangements and joint ventures
• Procurement frameworks and dynamic purchasing systems for retrofit and upgrade programmes, from initial strategy through to full contract documentation
• Construction and decarbonisation projects, including drafting and negotiating decarbonisation-compliant contracts, managing risk allocation and advising on grant funding such as the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Green Homes Grant schemes
• Solar PV and renewable energy projects, including leases, licences, concessions and third-party consents
• EV charging infrastructure and technology agreements, addressing land rights, user arrangements and regulatory compliance
• Real estate acquisitions, disposals and site assembly, integrating low-carbon technologies and carbon efficiency considerations into transactional documentation
• Biodiversity Net Gain and Nutrient Neutrality, including section 106 obligations, conservation covenants and delivery structures
• Asset management and retrofit programmes, advising on legislative change, service charge recovery, cost allocation and preparations for net zero compliance

Our environmental solicitors focus on implementation as well as compliance. We advise not only on what the law requires, but on how obligations can be delivered within existing operational, funding and contractual constraints.

Experience

We advise landowners on using their land to deliver biodiversity enhancements, including structuring section 106 planning obligations and conservation covenants to enable the sale of units for Biodiversity Net Gain. This work requires careful alignment of planning, environmental and property law to ensure schemes are practical, fundable and legally robust.

We have advised Metropolitan on the Clapham Park Regeneration Project in the London Borough of Lambeth. Our role includes negotiating and reporting on a new section 106 agreement linked to what is understood to be the largest detailed planning application in the country, alongside deeds of variation to existing section 106 agreements. We have also advised on third-party licences, highways agreements, utilities arrangements (including leases, licences, wayleaves and statutory agreements), rights to light matters, compulsory purchase order issues, and energy and ESCO-related leases, together with wider property due diligence.

This experience allows our environmental lawyers to anticipate regulatory and delivery issues early, helping you make informed decisions before they become constraints.