John Buttanshaw

John is a Senior Counsel specialising in Environmental Law. John is a key part of one of the City’s leading environmental practices, at the law firm Travers Smith.

A true expert in the field, John advises on contentious and non-contentious matters across the full spectrum of Environmental Law. On the non-contentious side, John has recognised expertise in environmental permitting, licensing and risk management on major energy and infrastructure projects; product and chemical compliance; and climate change and ESG reporting. John also advises on a range of environmental risks in the context of corporate and real estate transactions. On the contentious side, John has worked on matters ranging from major Environment Agency and Health and Safety Executive enforcement actions through to cross-border product recalls and product liability claims.

John also has expertise in the planning and energy and infrastructure regulatory worlds (as well as many of the wider human rights and financial ethics aspects of what is often termed ‘ESG’), which gives him a uniquely cross-functional understanding of environmental law and added understanding of the future of regulation in the area.

John is recognised in the leading legal directories for environmental law as an ‘Up and Coming’ lawyer (Chambers & Partners, 2021) and a ‘Rising Star’ (Legal 500, 2021). He is a member of the UK Environmental Law Association, participant in the CLLS Planning & Environmental Law Committee, an active contributor to the International Environmental Law Network, and a contributor to the leading textbook Commercial Environmental Law & Liability (Sweet & Maxwell).