“My work at the interface between law and the environment is extremely exciting and allows me to actively contribute to a sustainable future.”
Uwe M. Erling is a proven expert in public law, in particular administrative and environmental law, and a Certified Sustainability Reporting Specialist (CSRS). His work focuses on environmental compliance advice for national and international companies. This includes topics such as Environmental Social Governance (ESG), Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) and supply chain regulation. He also specializes in climate protection and emissions trading law. He advises leading companies from the energy, industrial, retail and chemical sectors in regulatory and court proceedings and on regulatory issues. His many years of expertise also extend to the legal support of compliance projects, corporate transactions and complex environmental remediation projects.
A further focus of his work is advising and representing companies in the aviation industry on regulatory legal issues and disputes in national, European and international aviation law. He regularly advises and represents hydropower plant operators in regulatory and/or court proceedings.
Uwe M. Erling’s practice is recognized nationally and internationally. In 2025, he was again named “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers/Handelsblatt in the environmental law category. He is listed as TOP lawyer for environmental law in the 2024 WirtschaftsWoche ranking. He is also listed in the prestigious Lexology ranking (Who’s Who Legal) 2024 as a “Global Elite Thought Leader” in the Climate Change category.
“Uwe Erling is unbeatable in the field of aviation in public law. His many years of experience have often helped us with difficult issues.”, Legal500
Languages:
German and English.
Expertise: Environmental compliance, ESG consulting, Government investigations, CO2 emissions trading, Climate lawsuits, Air traffic law
Short vita.
- Studied law at the University of Passau and the German University of Administrative Sciences in Speyer; scholarship holder of the German National Academic Foundation
- 2001 Obtained an LL.M. in Energy & Environment, Tulane Law School (USA)
- 2001 Admitted to the bar
- 2001-2019 Lawyer and Associated Partner at Noerr LLP
- 2010-2021 Lecturer in the MBA program “Aviation Management” at the Danube University Krems
- Nominated as arbitrator in the “Leiden Sarin International Air Law Moot Court”
- Partner at Pohlmann & Company since 2020
- 2022 -2025 Steering Committee Cambridge Forum on International ESG
- Since 2023 Advisory Board of the Association of Hydropower Plants in Bavaria (VWB)
- 2024 Certified Sustainability Reporting Specialist (CSRS) ACCOVALIST Institute
Memberships.
- Associate member of the American Bar Association (ABA) – Section of Environment, Energy & Natural Resources; Forum on Air & Space Law
- Society for Environmental Law e.V.
- European Air Law Association (EALA)
- German-American Lawyers Association (DAJV)
- Founding member of the International Environmental Symposium
- Alumni Association of the German National Academic Foundation
Selected mandates.
- Advising and representing an accredited inspection body in connection with allegations of fraud in the certification of climate protection projects in China against the Federal Environment Agency
- Advising an international data center operator on environmental, health and safety (EHS) compliance at German sites
- Advising an airline on the defense against greenwashing allegations
- Strategic support for a trading company in the implementation of compliance measures to comply with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)
- Representation of an energy trading company in a complaint procedure of an NGO regarding compliance with human rights and environmental regulations in the supply chain under the LkSG
- Representing a listed stock corporation in a dispute concerning state aid in relation toCO2 electricity price compensation in court proceedings, including before the Court of Justice of the European Union
- Advising a power plant on the conversion/new construction of a historic weir system with hydroelectric power plants
- Representation of a US chemical company in complex environmental remediation proceedings of a contaminated former production site
- Successful representation of an operator of truck engine test benches regarding their exemption from emissions trading obligations in EU emissions trading
- Study for the EU Commission/DG CLIMA on the legally binding implementation of climate protection for emissions from international aviation at ICAO level (together with Pablo Mendes de Leon, Institute of Air & Space Law/University of Leiden/NL)
- Representing Airlines for America (A4A) and US Airways, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines in an international test case against the German aviation tax
- Representation of a recycling company in the cross-border export of waste
Publications.
Articles
- Ongoing selection and discussion of court decisions in the Zeitschrift für materielles und prozessuales Klimaschutzrecht (KlimaRZ) and the Fachzeitschrift für Nachhaltigkeit und Recht (ESGZ)
- Emissions trading in aviation – a long-haul flight with turbulence, in: MBI /Dow Jones TradeNews Emissions, 05.02.2025, p. 13 ff.
- Comment on the BGH ruling of 27.06.2024 regarding the permissibility of advertising with the term “climate neutral”, in: KlimaRZ 2024,158
- Greenwashing: The BGH ruling on the use of the term “climate neutral” in: ZURe, 2024, 34 ff.
- KlimaSeniorinnen: The judgment of the ECJ for human rights in: Zeitschrift für Corporate Responsibility & Recht in der Lieferkette (CRZ) 2024, 117 ff.
- PFAS Settlement on drinking water pollution in the USA, ESGZ 2024, 12 et seq.
- Greenwashing and Green Claims Compliance – Regulatory Background and Consequences for Companies, in KlimaRZ 2024, 86 – 92 (together with Fabienne Gehring, Dr. Martin Schorn, Dr. Tim Uschkereit)
- “Environmental compliance” in, Koch/Hofman/Reese (eds.): Handbuch Umweltrecht, 6th edition 2024, pp. 1525-1584 (together with Dr. Tim Uschkereit)
- Climate lawsuits against BMW and Mercedes also failed in the second instance, in ESGZ 2024, 14-17
- Is the climate-neutral label dead? PR Magazine 2023/12 and 2024/1 (together with Dr. Martin Schorn)
- Case law on climate protection law – status quo and quo vadis?, in KlimaRZ 2023, p. 136-140
- Climate protection as a business risk – avoidance and defense, KlimaRZ 2022, 135 (together with Tim Uschkereit, Anke C. Sessler, Max D. Stein)
- Germany: Environment and Climate Change Regulation, in: Mondaq Comparative Guide 2021 (together with Tim Uschkereit)
- How to reconcile the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) for Aviation with the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA)?, in: Air & Space Law 2018, 371ff.
- International Aviation Emissions under International Civil Aviation Organization’s Global Market Based Measure: Ready for Offsetting?, in: Air & Space Law 2017, p. 1 ff.
- Possible legal arrangements to implement a global market based measure for international aviation emissions, Study for the Directorate General Climate Action of the EU Commission, December 2015 (together with Professor Pablo Mendes de Leon (University of Leiden) et al.)
- Implications of market regulation in the carbon market, in: Climate Change 4/2016 Umweltbundesamt (ed.) (together with Dominik Glock et. al)
- The German Air Transport Tax: A Treaty Override of International Law, in 10 FIU Law Review, p. 467 (2015)
- Comment on the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court of 5.11.2014 (Ref. 1 BvF 3/11) on the constitutionality of the Air Traffic Tax Act, Zeitschrift für Luft- und Weltraumrecht (ZLW) 2015, pp. 526-531 (with Tim Uschkereit)
- Introductory Note to Air Transport Association of America v. Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change, Court of Justice 21 December 2011, in: International Legal Materials, Vol. 51, 3/2012, p. 535
- Pumped storage power plants in the energy mix of the future (with Dr. Peter Bachmann), in: Energiewirtschaftliche Tagesfragen (et) 2012, p. 97 ff.
- Carbon Compliance, in: Corporate Compliance Zeitschrift CCZ, 5/2010, p. 188 ff.
- Discussion Hobe/Boewe/Geisler (eds.), Luftverkehr und Klimawandel, Brennpunkt Luft- und Weltraumrecht, 2009, in: Zeitschrift für Luft- und Weltraumrecht (ZLW), 1/2010, p. 130 ff.
- EU emissions trading in aviation, Zeitschrift für Luft- und Weltraumrecht (ZLW), 3/2009, p. 338 ff.
- Implementation of the European Environmental Liability Directive into German Law, in: New York State Bar Association CLE, Complying with environmental laws in Europe, June 2009
Comments
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Act (TEHG) in, beckonline GROSSKOMMENTAR (BeckOGK) Energierecht, Säcker/Appel/Koch/Ludwigs (eds.), (together with Markus Ehrmann et.al.), 2025
- Case group: Emissions trading, in: Bungenberg/ Heinrich (ed.), Europäisches Beihilfenrecht, Nomos Kommentar, 2nd edition 2025
Blog posts
- Shell appeal ruling: What it means for climate lawsuits
- EmpCo guideline to prevent greenwashing
- Climate neutrality: Is the climate neutral label dead?
- SEC fines Goldmann Sachs for non-compliance with its own ESG guidelines
- ESG reporting and greenwashing as a compliance risk
- Sustainable Corporate Governance
- ESG – New EU compliance rules for a sustainable economy
- New compliance requirements in the supply chain
