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The Role of Lawyers in the Green Transition: From Law to Action

The ecological transition is not only a political, economic, or technological challenge: above all, it is a legal one. The shift toward a sustainable model requires a web of regulations, contracts, litigation, and governance frameworks that can only be articulated through law. In this scenario, lawyers are not mere spectators but decisive actors who can either accelerate or slow down change.

The rise of environmental law, ESG compliance, and climate litigation shows how central the legal profession has become. Governments are multiplying regulations to cut emissions, protect biodiversity, and drive the energy transition; companies, pressured by investors and consumers, seek legal guidance to comply with sustainability criteria; and civil society increasingly turns to courts to hold states and corporations accountable for their inaction against climate change.

In this context, lawyers act as translators of the green transition. They advise on regulatory risks, draft green contracts, support sustainable finance operations, and at the same time defend communities affected by environmental degradation. They are also guardians of coherence: preventing greenwashing, exposing misleading practices, and ensuring that sustainability is not an empty slogan but a legally enforceable commitment.

The challenge is twofold. On the one hand, training: the profession must acquire expertise in technical areas such as renewable energy, circular economy, or carbon markets. On the other, ethics: advising on the green transition is not only about compliance with the letter of the law, but also about embracing responsibility toward future generations. In a world that demands urgent responses, the absolute neutrality of the lawyer gives way to the demand for a more proactive role in defense of the public interest.

The ecological transition will also be a legal transition. Every environmental advance will be translated into regulatory frameworks that require interpretation, application, and defense. And along this path, lawyers cannot afford to be reactive — they must lead. Because securing a sustainable future does not depend solely on engineers or scientists, but also on those who, through legal arguments, transform commitments into rights and promises into obligations.