A group of City firms committed to safeguarding the environment has written a communiqué to the leaders of the G20 nations calling on them to ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to climate change legislation, the Gazette can reveal.

The Legal Sector Alliance (LSA) of 18 firms has drafted the document ahead of the G20 summit in Pittsburgh on 24 September. It calls on the G20 to adopt a joined-up approach to implementing international and national legislation to combat climate change.

The communiqué states that legal and regulatory regimes should be reviewed to correct any failure to price or minimise carbon emissions and to remove perverse incentives which promote disproportionate investment in one technology at the expense of others.

It says that international rules are required to clarify the status of carbon emission reductions as property, and the ownership of sequestered carbon.

LSA founding members include City firms DLA Piper, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters. The alliance is supported by the Law Society.

Law Society chief executive Des Hudson said: ‘The LSA communiqué calls for better, clearer regulation to create an environment to enable businesses and government to work effectively towards reducing carbon emissions to necessary levels.’