News

Affinitas, the Latin American alliance of lawyers promoted by Garrigues, today launched the “Affinitas CO2 Network” in Río de Janeiro (Brazil), in which professionals from all of the Latin American network’s current member firms are set to play an active role. In the words of Antonio Alonso Ureba, general secretary of Affinitas, “This is an inter-country business line capable of providing a first-rate exclusive service anywhere in the world, in one of the highest-profile areas at an international level.”

The prime objective of the “Affinitas CO2 Network” is to offer quality legal and technical advice, given the significant underlying synergies and business opportunities on offer. The ever-increasing relevance of climate change issues in recent years across highly diverse sectors of society, including the economy itself, is indisputable. Such relevance has resulted in strong demand for specialist technical and legal advice, particularly since the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol in February 2005.

Clean Development Mechanisms in Latin America
In the case of Latin America, where a significant number of the industrial ventures carried out on the continent can qualify for the Kyoto Protocol Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), advice on CO2 issues has a particular interest and appeal. The current number of CDM projects in countries where Affinitas is present accounts for el 33% of the global number of registered projects.

Starting out with a 20-strong team of professionals with expertise in this field, the “Affinitas CO2 Network” is expected to grow as the initiative gathers pace. Garrigues is represented in the group by Antonio Baena, Lluis Esquerra, Santiago Garrido, Carlos J. Rodríguez and Ernesto Lluch. At a meeting held today in Río de Janeiro, the members of the network identified the concerns and needs of the various Affinitas members and of their clients, and set out the new network’s priority objectives.