Shearman & Sterling attorneys, in collaboration with Barclays Bank PLC and Coalition for Green Capital, drafted model green bank legislation for state and local governments and accompanying model green bank bylaws for the Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States Project (Environmental Law Institute; Columbia Law School Sabin Center for Climate Change Law), which provides model laws that legislatures can customize and adopt to drastically reduce fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Green banks are independent nonprofit, public, or quasi-public financial institutions that leverage public or philanthropic dollars – and government backing – to attract private capital to zero and low-emissions energy generation and transportation, energy efficiency, and other projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation), adjust to new climate conditions and reduce risk to valued assets (adaptation), or address disruptions from climate change (resilience) – while aiming to lower the cost of energy for consumers and protect climate-impacted communities. This model legislation is designed to facilitate the implementation and proliferation of state and local green banks that align with federal green bank legislation and to provide coherence in the green bank policy-space.

The model legislation is available for review at https://lpdd.org/resources/lpdd-model-law-green-bank-state-and-local-legislation/.

The Shearman & Sterling team below also included associate Nathan Bishop.

The Team