The American Bar Association (ABA) has just published Sustainability and Climate Change Risks and Opportunities In Real Estate Development: A Practice Guide for Lawyers. ABA’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources is making it available to anyone without charge here.
This Guide presents good commercial practice for how attorneys should advise real estate stakeholders (professionals, investors, lenders, owners and occupants, insurance companies) on climate change and sustainability risks and opportunities in design, financing, construction, and sale or lease of new buildings as well as retrofits to existing buildings. It provides practical strategies for identifying risk, uncovering opportunities, reducing costs, and structuring more resilient and sustainable real estate transactions.
This practice area is exceptionally important for climate change and sustainable development. All human-made spaces, structures and surroundings that provide the setting for daily human activity are physical assets. As such, they are highly dependent on infrastructure and are uniquely vulnerable to the impacts of a changing climate. Buildings also make a significant contribution to climate emissions (approximately 40% globally).
This Guide is for lawyers at any stage of their career. It was written and edited by experienced lawyers:
- Yvonne Castillo, Victor Insurance Managers;
- Phoebe Cooper, Greenberg Traurig LLP;
- Nicole DeNamur, Sustainable Strategies PLLC;
- Amy Edwards, Holland & Knight LLP;
- M. Carmélita François, New York City Department of Buildings;
- Susan Maslow, Antheil Maslow & MacMinn LLP;
- Paul McIntyre, Greenberg Traurig LLP;
- Jenna Rackerby, Davis, Polk & Wardwell LLP;
- Brenda Radmacher, Seyfarth Shaw LLP;
- and me.
This Guide grows out of, and is authorized by, two ABA House of Delegates resolutions. The first, adopted in 2019, urges lawyers “to advise their clients of the risks and opportunities that climate change provides.” The second, adopted in 2024, urges lawyers to “learn about sustainable development, and to counsel their clients on related risks and opportunities.” Feel free to share the link to this Guide with others who might be interested. When we launched this Guide on September 23 as part of New York City Climate Week, we had a great panel discussion. I expect similar informative and thought-provoking discussions would occur in other panels. The authors/editors of this Guide would be happy to continue the discussions of this Guide.
