Pinsent Masons wins Innovative Lawyers in Sustainability at the FT Innovative Lawyer Awards Apac 2023

The firm secured the win for its role collaborating with a consortium of advisers including KPMG on Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) as it seeks to support the phase out of coal fired power stations in South East Asia.

Via the ETM programme, the retirement of coal fired power plants and the shift towards renewable energy is projected to save two gigatonnes of carbon emission – the equivalent of removing more than 55 million passenger cars from the road. 

Lead lawyer advising on the project, John Yeap, said: “The global Net Zero agenda is particularly challenging for Asia given many economies in this region are still growing. It is therefore not simply a case of switching to renewables. It is also about continuing the fast pace of growth in electricity supply to meet the growing needs.

The bespoke approach of the ETM enables economies to retire coal plants early which in turn facilitates increased need for renewable power. This dual approach fast-tracks the decarbonisation of the power supply sector and works towards achieving the Net Zero targets of these economies.

As part of the initiative Pinsent Masons is providing specialist legal funds and structuring advice to the ADB, as well as advice on energy regulatory and decommissioning considerations. 

The firm was shortlisted in five categories in total with Feifei Zheng being shortlisted in the Innovative Individual Practitioner category, Most Innovative Law in Apac, Most Innovative Lawyers in Facilitating Global Business and Most Innovative Lawyers in Transforming Industries in addition to the Innovative Lawyers in Sustainability award.