Today, the circumstances surrounding the global environment are rapidly deteriorating, evidenced by such phenomena as global warming, extreme weather and depletion of natural resources. In terms of business practices, various efforts have been made at reducing pressures on the environment, and environmental issues are achieving great interest as is typical under the prevalent CSR (corporate social responsibility) management. The Land Contamination Countermeasures Law has been enacted and landowners may be required to take measures to remove contamination regardless of whether or not they were responsible for the contamination. Thus, environmental problems have come to be recognized as risks that may materially affect business management and transactions. Meanwhile, new environmental business opportunities have been developing, such as emissions trading.

Our firm has been actively handling matters of environmental risk in M&A and real estate transactions, as well as various environmental law compliance issues in business transactions. It is expected that the environmental law practice will gain even greater importance, under the current circumstances where environmental regulations are ever tightening.