In the area of public business law there will be a focus over the next few years on issues relating to environment law. These issues are becoming increasingly important for companies, not only at the different management stages, but also in the context of building and planning law. In industrialised countries this is due to growing environmental awareness, the capital market's demand for companies to undertake to protect the environment and as a result of conflicts arising from the close coexistence of industries and usage requiring protection. Climate change also requires radical changes be made with regard to the consumption of fossil fuels, but at the same time, there is a reluctance to accept technologies which are perceived as critical (e.g. nuclear energy, CCS). It is important to preserve agricultural areas to allow for the production of food for a growing world population and for the production of renewable raw materials. The European Commission is, therefore, aspiring to reorganise the European economies into so called "low carbon economies".
On the one hand, these developments entail considerable risks for the companies concerned and a number of other companies that specialise in or depend on the production and use of fossil energy (such as the oil industry, the air transport sector, car producers). On the other hand, considerable opportunities for companies offering environment protection products and services are being created. This affects, in particular, the construction of energy efficient machines and equipment as well as the production of plants for the production of renewable energy and also the real estate industry, insofar as it considerably reduces the real estate industry's energy needs and replaces them with renewable energy. This can also be advantageous for power plant manufacturers offering combined heat and power as well as for the mass transport in local and long-distance rail traffic.
In our news blog, the team also provides information on current topics in the fields of environment, planning and regulation.
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Dr Stefan Altenschmidt, LL.M. (Nottingham)
Partner
Dusseldorf
Bernhard Burkert, LL.M. (Stellenbosch)
Counsel
Berlin
Dr Sabrina Desens
Partner
Leipzig
Dr Gernot-Rüdiger Engel
Partner
Hamburg
Dr Benjamin Effler
Associate
Berlin
Lukas Erdmann
Associate
Berlin
Dr Martin Fleckenstein
Partner
Berlin
Henrik Fischer
Associate
Leipzig
Lea Franken
Associate
Dusseldorf
Dennis Gerdes
Senior Consultant
Hamburg
Dr Richard Happ
Partner
Hamburg
Dr Rut Herten-Koch, M.A.
Partner
Berlin
Dr Henning Holz, LL.M.
Counsel
Hanover
Ekkehard Hübel
Counsel
Hamburg
Dr Gerd-Ulrich Kapteina
Partner
Essen
Dr Stefan Kobes
Partner
Berlin
Nils Kramer
Senior Associate
Essen
Nina Klünker, LL.M. (KCL)
Associate
Berlin
Prof. Dr Tobias Leidinger
Partner
Dusseldorf
Dr Stephen Lampert
Counsel
Munich
Mee Foo Moh
Of Counsel
Singapore
Dr Mathias Mailänder
Counsel
Hamburg
Pauline Müller
Senior Associate
Dusseldorf
Marius Merfeld
Associate
Dusseldorf
Isabel Dorothee Ruhnke, LL.M.
Senior Associate
Berlin
Dr Astrid Seehafer, M.Sc.
Partner
Berlin
Christoph Schnoor
Senior Associate
Hamburg
Dr Clara Schulze Velmede
Associate
Leipzig
Morten Steimann
Associate
Essen
Arne Stumpe
Associate
Hamburg
Prof. Dr Herbert Willems
Partner
Essen
Vera Wechsler, LL.M. (Tulane)
Associate
Dusseldorf
Anja Wechsler
Associate
Hamburg
Cornelia Yzer
Of Counsel
Berlin