< Go Back

AGES Speaker

Andrew Gilder is one of South Africa’s leading private sector environmental, climate change and carbon markets lawyer – he is a Director of Climate Legal, with more than twenty-three years’ legal practice experience specialising in climate change (mitigation and adaptation), climate finance and development, carbon markets, carbon tax, environmental and energy law, policy and governance. His practical experience extends over a range of African jurisdictions, including advice to public and private sectors on the development and implementation of climate change, climate finance, carbon markets, carbon tax, environmental and energy law, policy and governance as well as regulatory and transactional advice to industries, foreign embassies and municipalities on the implementation of infrastructure development projects. His practical experience includes advising government, businesses and industries on climate change policy development and its implications, including climate change business risks and opportunities, assessing commercial relationships against evolving climate change policy and regulation and relevant contractual considerations, as well as advising on, negotiating and drafting of commercial contracts required to secure financial and logistical positions in the carbon market. He is also responsible for drafting the South African Climate Change Act 2024, for the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, together with related legal instruments, and was extensively involved in South Africa’s adaptation legal and policy alignment process. Andrew has worked on climate change legislation and strategy in Zimbabwe, Thailand, Mongolia, The Seychelles and the Southern African Development Community and has been recognised as a leading lawyer by PLC Which Lawyer? 2012 (Environment, South Africa), Best Lawyers 2018, 2020-24 (Environment, South Africa) and Chambers and Partners 2021-2024 (Environment, South Africa), and was shortlisted for an African Legal Award, in 2015. Andrew is the co-editor and co-author of three seminal works in the South African climate change and carbon market arena, namely: Climate Change Law and Governance in South Africa (Juta, 2016) (South Africa’s first comprehensive treatise on climate change law and governance), Concise Guide to Carbon Tax (LexisNexis, October 2020) and Comprehensive Guide to Carbon Tax (LexisNexis, March 2022).