Energy transition: More deals linked to renewable power
A global report that charts how law firms are involved in the fossil fuel industry has for the first time praised the growing number of UK firms dedicated to sustainability and climate action.
Each year since 2020 Law Students for Climate Accountability – a student-led organisation that aims to make firms accountable for their role in the climate crisis – has published a report naming and rating the City firms which facilitate oil and gas projects through regulatory advice, transactions or lobbying.
As we reported last week, this year’s revealed that in the last five years 20 UK firms were involved in fossil fuel transactions totalling more than $700bn.
It also highlighted how firms were building their practices around green entrepreneurs and climate action groups.
The LSCA said: “A growing group of firms is actively choosing a different path, eschewing fossil fuel clients and instead supporting the green transition.
“The rapid expansion of green technologies, coupled with increasingly stringent national and international climate targets, has created viable alternative sources of work.
“These firms are not only responding to shifting market conditions, such as increased need for regulatory and specialised energy advice, they are also helping to shape the evolving landscape of environmental law, from domestic courts to international forums, and advocating for those most affected by climate harm.
“This emerging model makes it clear that the status quo is no longer inevitable.”
These firms gave law students a choice, the report said, adding: “It is important to note, however, that many firms operating across diverse practice areas – from criminal to family law – do not engage in or enable fossil fuel extraction and may be seen as another alternative for law students who do not wish to practice within businesses that conduct climate destructive legal work.”
According to LSCA, the growth of the renewable energy sector in the UK and around the world, makes working with oil and gas “a choice, not a necessity” for law firms in the UK.
The volume of work linked to renewable energy project is growing year on year. In the last five years, firms were involved with renewable energy transactions totalling more than $1.2tn, compared to $3tn of fossil fuel transactions.
The report gave real-world examples of how UK firms have rejected fossil fuel work to focus on the emerging markets around sustainability and climate action, such as Ignition Law, a London-based practice that works with startups and growing businesses involved with renewable energy, alternative fuels, electric vehicles and sustainable food systems.
Bristol firm TLT was named for its future energy practice, which provides regulatory and commercial advice to bioenergy, decarbonisation and hydropower projects. TLT also works with funders and investors who support low carbon projects.
Lux Nova Partners, based in London, was praised for helping community groups and start-ups deliver a range of sustainable projects in 2025, from a new local energy generation app to carbon credits that support rural farming.
Lux Nova is part of the 1% for the Planet network, and give 1% of its annual revenue to social and environmental projects.
London and Derby firm Prospect Law, meanwhile, has “a strong renewables practice, supporting the development of net zero initiatives”. So far, it has contributed to an estimated five gigawatts of clean energy through the projects it has advised on.
Scottish firm Energy Law Unlimited is the UK’s first law firm exclusively focused on sustainability and clean energy.
The report also highlighted the work of law firms that contribute to climate action primarily through pro-climate litigation and public interest work, such as London-based Pogust Goodhead – which last November won a liability ruling in the huge compensation claim against the mining giant BHP for the Fundao Dam collapse in Brazil in 2015 – and Leigh Day, which helped Friends of the Earth use human rights legislation to challenge the government’s “inadequate” plans for protecting communities from the impact of extreme heat, flooding and coastal erosion.
LSCA said: “Firms that fail to adapt risk not only reputational harm, but also being left behind in a legal market that is steadily reorienting around climate accountability and sustainability. The question is no longer whether change is possible, but whether firms are willing to lead it.”
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