Lawyers with Quercus in defence of the environment

The environmental defence association has signed a protocol with a law firm, Dower Law Firm, with the aim of having legal support in its actions in favour of carbon neutrality.

This is a pioneering initiative towards carbon neutrality. Dower Law Firm, a law firm based in Porto with offices in Lisbon and Funchal, has just signed an unprecedented protocol with Quercus in Portugal.  Quercus is one of the country's leading environmental associations, with recognised work in the area of sustainability. Dower has undertaken to provide legal support. At the same time, it has signed up to the Porto Climate Pact (PPC), an initiative of Porto City Council, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality in the city by 2030.

"We are truly committed to being vectors of change. With the measures we've been developing, we hope to achieve carbon neutrality in a short space of time. These protocols are a way of demonstrating our commitment and encouraging others to take this step", said Eduardo Castro Marques, managing partner at Dower.

The formal signing of the protocol with Quercus took place on 20 April in Lousada, as part of the Future Counts event, held annually by Dower Law Firm, which aims to create another moment of reflection and alignment between teams and sustainability, involving them and challenging them to play a truly active role in this area.

With this agreement, a first in the country, the law firm undertakes to provide legal support in the context of monitoring complaints received by Quercus. The agreement in question was signed by the founding partners of Dower Law Firm, Eduardo Castro Marques, Miguel Cunha Machado and Nuno Sá Costa, and by the vice-president of Quercus, Raúl Silva. The event also included a debate with the speakers Manuel Nunes, councillor for the Municipality of Lousada, Marta Santos Silva, professor and researcher at the "Universidade do Minho", and Célia Vilas Boas, president of the Porto regional branch of Quercus, which was moderated by Humberto Tomaz Silva, Chief Sustainability Office at Dower.

"This partnership came about naturally, bringing together an organisation like Dower, which wants to make a positive contribution to the environment and the community, and an association like Quercus, which wants to do the same", said Eduardo Castro Marques.

In addition to its legal services, the law firm is a leading player in the sustainability market, implementing "innovative policies" that aim to "plant scientific knowledge in the community" and, consequently, "protect the environment and the ecosystem".

Signing up to the Porto Climate Pact

In line with these objectives and, at the same time, with the ambition to fulfil this commitment, Dower has also signed up to the Porto Climate Pact. This treaty represents ‘our commitment to the climate and to our community, as well as our desire to share this journey towards carbon neutrality,’ emphasises the managing partner.

Following the hiring of Humberto Tomaz Silva, Chief Sustainability Officer, this is another pioneering step for the law firm. Dower is currently implementing a number of differentiating and sustainable measures in the market, including an energy meter, which will make it possible to account for emissions associated with resource consumption and energy use throughout the firm's structure, and the results of which will be made public. The aim is to go beyond the "2030 Agenda" and work towards becoming "a carbon-positive society".

In addition to these actions, there are also activities to offset emissions and support biodiversity, cooperation protocols with recognised social and environmental organisations and the introduction of a PaperLess policy.