Dentons, Canada’s Global Law Firm, has emerged as a leader in helping businesses across the Toronto region and beyond navigate the opportunities and challenges of the climate economy. By offering practical legal guidance, Dentons supports clients in adopting more sustainable practices and successfully transitioning to greener operations.
In this Climate Champions feature, we spoke with Dentons' Dina Awad, Dispute Resolution and Regulatory Partner; Vivek Bakshi, Corporate Partner and Dentons Global Energy Sector Leader; and Christina Canestraro, Legal Business Development Manager, to explore how Dentons is shaping the climate economy through its innovative legal approach.
“Initially, we were primarily focused on traditional environmental compliance and natural resources law,” Dina explained. “However, as the global conversations around sustainability shifted, our approach evolved.” Dentons grew its expertise to include broader climate change policies, renewable energy initiatives, carbon markets and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) frameworks. This evolution has enabled Dentons to support clients across various sectors, ensuring they stay ahead of changing sustainability demands.
A notable example of Dentons' expertise is their work on a CA$10 million carbon offset project with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). “It is the largest private land conservation project in Canada to date,” Dina shared, highlighting the project’s role in protecting the Boreal Wildlands in Northern Ontario. This illustrates how Dentons, and the legal profession, play a significant part in advancing large-scale nature-based climate initiatives.
“We help businesses stay ahead, avoid risks, and seize opportunities in the green economy.”
— Dina Awad, Dispute Resolution and Regulatory Partner, Dentons Canada LLP
“Energy projects operate within a very regulated environment,” Vivek noted, emphasizing that understanding regulatory constraints is crucial for any project’s success. Dentons’ sector-focused expertise helps clients navigate these complexities, from planning and construction to operation. “We guide clients on how to operate within the frameworks,” Vivek said, ensuring they meet sustainability goals efficiently and legally.
Balancing environmental responsibility with financial performance is another challenge Dentons helps clients tackle. “It’s about driving efficiency,” Vivek explained. “You can be environmentally compliant and still be profitable.” Dentons provides guidance on how clients can align their sustainability goals with their business objectives, ensuring that compliance enhances profitability instead of hindering it.
Greenwashing—misleading claims about environmental benefits—has become a growing concern as consumers, investors, and regulators increasingly demand genuine transparency in sustainability efforts. “There’s been a huge push to ensure that statements about being environmentally friendly are properly substantiated,” Dina shared. This heightened scrutiny means businesses must provide credible evidence for their environmental claims. Dentons guides clients through the complexities of ESG reporting, ensuring their sustainability efforts are both accurate and compliant with evolving regulations. “Greenwashing enforcement is something companies need to be aware of,” Dina added, highlighting Dentons' role in helping businesses navigate these responsibilities and avoid legal pitfalls.
Equally important, especially for climate and sustainability projects, is the importance of Indigenous engagement. At Dentons, “early, meaningful, and continuous engagement,” as Vivek stressed, is critical. “Companies need to respect and partner with Indigenous communities,” he added, emphasizing Dentons' role in guiding clients to incorporate Indigenous rights into their projects, ensuring that initiatives are approached with mutual respect.
As the climate economy evolves, Dentons is not only committed to adapting and identifying emerging opportunities but also leading by example. “The energy transition is a key priority,” Vivek stated, citing areas like carbon capture, utilization and storage, renewable energy, hydrogen, and battery energy storage as key aspects of Dentons' focus. “We stay ahead by being experts in these sectors,” he added. This expertise is further strengthened by the firm’s global reach. “As Canada’s Global Law Firm, we capitalize on our expansive geographic reach and national strength to provide a tailored experience for our clients,” Christina emphasized, highlighting how Dentons provides comprehensive, globally informed solutions that adapt to both regional and international trends.
Beyond just guiding clients, Dentons sets the standard by actively pursuing its own sustainability targets. This dedication to practising what they preach enables the firm to offer insights grounded in real experience. As Dina succinctly put it, “We help businesses stay ahead, avoid risks, and seize opportunities in the green economy.” By embodying these principles, Dentons ensures that both the firm and its clients are equipped to navigate the challenges of the climate economy and build a more sustainable, resilient, and competitive future in this rapidly changing landscape.
The Climate Champions series spotlights our members who are leading experts in cleantech and climate innovation. As the global cleantech economy booms, the Toronto region has the potential to lead—driven by the organizations taking bold steps to green their operations and pioneer new technologies. This series celebrates the trailblazers propelling our region towards global climate leadership and a net-zero future by 2040.
