Green Ambassadors: United Kingdom 2026

Matthew Townsend at A&O Shearman is a key authority on the environmental and ESG aspects of projects, regulatory and compliance mandates. Alongside heading the firm’s UK environment and climate practice and serving as global co-head of its environment and climate group, Townsend also helped found the firm’s global sustainability group.

Townsend is highly sought-after on pathfinding mandates, particularly concerning transition finance, carbon, and greenwashing. Supporting the UK’s ambition to become a hub for sustainable investments, Townsend assisted the UK Transition Market Finance Review Secretariat in engaging with market players and developing recommendations to create a regulatory environment which supports economy-wide efforts toward net zero.

As a leading legal voice on green issues, Townsend serves on the Senior Advisory Board to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and is a member of bodies including the International Chamber of Commerce’s Sustainability Committee and the Financial Market Law Committee’s ESG Working Group.