The politics of ESG: balancing concerns and corporate realities of ESG in 2023
Alison Babbitt is an English- and Ontario-qualified project finance lawyer focused on mining, renewables and clean technology sectors. Having previously worked in the London and Bahrain offices, and now located in Canada, she has significant experience advising on both domestic and multi-jurisdictional international projects, including in LatAm and EMEA. Ms. Babbitt has played an integral role advising clients on transactions across a number of industry sectors (mining, renewables, clean technology, infrastructure, P3, conventional power, and oil & gas). She is an organized, solutions-oriented lawyer with a strong familiarity of the policies and terms and conditions of many financial institutions and the commercial realities and issues faced by project developers and among lending groups. Her ability to navigate complex issues and assist with formulating solutions to satisfy often disparate requirements among project participants has been recognized by the clients she serves, which include sponsors, commercial lenders, Islamic finance institutions, export credit agencies and development and multilateral financing institutions. As co-lead of Norton Rose Fulbright’s Canadian ESG team, she is actively involved in advising clients on ESG-related matters and sustainable finance.
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Andrea Brewer provides strategic legal counsel in all areas of corporate law, specializing in public mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, ESG and corporate governance matters. Ms. Brewer regularly advises on public listing transactions, including initial public offerings and reverse take-overs, across many industries, including technology, cannabis, psychedelics and mining. She acts for public and private companies in respect of financing, M&A (including take-over bids and plan of arrangement) and corporate reorganizations. Ms. Brewer also regularly advises directors, C-suite executives and shareholders in the context of complex shareholder and board relations, negotiations and shareholder meetings across all industry sectors. Ms. Brewer is co-chair of Norton Rose Fulbright’s Canadian corporate finance and securities team and is a member of Norton Rose Fulbright’s special situations team, which encompasses Canada’s leading hostile M&A, shareholder activist and defense mandates and complex reorganization transactions. She is also a member of the firm’s National Pro Bono Committee, the founding Toronto co-chair of WiN (Women in Norton Rose Fulbright), and a past member of the student committee in the Toronto office.
Ray Chartier is a dispute resolution lawyer with a focus on matters relating to major infrastructure projects and both energy and the transportation sectors, as well as rail regulatory matters and disputes. He advises clients on Indigenous legal issues specifically, and ESG risks, regulation and compliance issues. Ray has assisted clients involved in regulatory proceedings before both federal and provincial regulators, and with environmental review panels assessing proposed major pipeline projects. He regularly advises clients regarding the duty to consult with Indigenous Peoples, and in relation to issues of Free, Prior and Informed Consent in the context of project developments. Ray has considerable experience representing both private sector clients and governments involved in negotiations, disputes and judicial review proceedings involving major infrastructure projects and facilities.