As a socially responsible firm, VdA takes into account the interests of both its internal and external stakeholders, in particular their interest in the Community and the Planet.
Our commitment to sustainability prompts us to actively contribute to the UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to the carbon neutrality objectives of the European Green Deal.
The social aspect of our commitment to sustainability is particularly relevant given our long-standing strong connection to the Community. Since lawyers play an essential role in ensuring access to justice, we believe that big firms such as VdA, have an increased responsibility to ensure the effective exercise of civic rights. VdA provides several hundred hours of pro bono legal services every year to non-profit organizations as part of an extensive Pro Bono Programme.
Goal 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) matches one of the main pillars of VdA's Responsibility and Sustainability Programme: cooperation and networking as key mechanisms to implement projects that address the needs of the Communities in which we operate and promote human rights protection and capacity building for active citizenship.
VdA has been reaffirming its commitment to its partners and to the Community at three main levels: social investment, collaborative networks and bringing different stakeholders together.
Because we believe in the transformative power of innovation, over the past decade we have assisted in the development and strengthening of numerous projects in the area of social innovation, social entrepreneurship and social investment. We believe this investment has significant impact in the redefinition of current mindsets, generating new solutions to old problems.
Thanks to our Pro Bono Programme, our Green Project and our Corporate Volunteering Programme, our team members are able to accomplish their personal and social goals and to exercise their civic rights, within the firm and as part of the work carried out with our partners.
Our lawyers also play a crucial role in strengthening the capacity of organisations with a social and environmental agenda, by raising their awareness to their rights and legal obligations in an effort to make them more sound and capable of developing their mission.
One of the focal points of VdA’s programme of Corporate Social Responsibility is the environmental sustainability strategy, developed through the Green Project, an internal programme of sustainable development and ecoefficiency, aimed at promoting behavioural changes among our people. The strategy strongly minimizes the environmental impact of the Firm’s operation, through the optimization of resources – energy and materials. The Green Project actively promotes the adoption of sustainable practices, both by VdA as a firm and by its people; in the long-run VdA aims to obtain the “zero-carbon status”.
The assessment and reduction of the carbon footprint is one of the key performance indicators of the firm’s ecoefficiency, given the range of relevant generated data.
The “Green Barometer” is a tool whereby the firm assesses its environmental footprint, reflected in a quarterly reporting of the results within VdA. Every year, we draft and publish a Carbon Footprint Report. The results are assessed in accordance with international guidelines adapted to the domestic reality, are reported to the Legal Sustainability Alliance.
Through a protocol with Tapada Nacional de Mafra (national estate of Mafra), VdA has been allocated an area of 31 ha named “Zero Carbon Zone”, of mixed stands of hardwood and resinous deposits, for the annual policy of compensation of the Firm’s emissions (including the planting of trees and protection measures against fires), with an estimated annual carbon capture of 60 tons.
Within the Green Project, VdA is a member of the Legal Sustainability Alliance, an international network of law firms, committed to the adoption of operational environmentally sustainable practices. Currently, this global organization has 390 members worldwide, VdA being the only Portuguese member law-firm.
BCSD Portugal - Business Council for Sustainable Development is a non-profit organization that brings together and represents companies actively committed to sustainability in their development and work. Through the conception of intercompany projects stimulating sustainable development, BCSD is an influent player, inspiring new business models.
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