To address the issues of climate change and global warming, Winkler Partners Attorneys at Law has voluntarily chosen to follow the PAS 2060:2014 carbon neutrality reporting framework. Winkler Partners engaged the British Standards Institution (BSI) to conduct a third-party verification of our carbon neutrality in 2021, becoming the first law firm in Taiwan to be certified as carbon neutral. The details : Link

Through our Green Office program, we measure our carbon footprint and look for ways we can reduce it, through an office-wide reduction in air-conditioning use, purchasing low-energy or energy efficient appliances and operating as paperless as possible. Colleagues are discouraged from using paper cups, single-use utensils and lunchboxes, and we have implemented an extensive in-house recycling program. Air quality is monitored throughout the office and plants are extensively used for greening, temperature reduction and shading. Our roof garden adheres to the concept of permaculture whereby it is self-sufficient and in harmony with northern Taiwan’s natural ecosystem.

We also capture rainwater for irrigation and flushing our toilets. 76m2 of solar panels produce approximately 20% of our energy needs. We also offset the emissions generated by air travel, which is approximately 50% of our firm’s total carbon footprint.

Winkler Partners supports the work of the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and contributes 3% of our legal services revenue each year. Wild at Heart’s primary focus is on environmental and social justice. Representative cases include a 20-year indigenous land rights dispute in Hualien, Taiwan, and preservation of the Taiwanese humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis taiwanensis) including the successful endangered species listing by the United States Government in 2018. Other recent cases include the environmental aspects of the Taipei Dome project, several industrial park developments in central and southern Taiwan, and conservation of an algae reef of the north west coast of Taiwan under threat from port development. Learn more about Wild at Heart here.

Everyone deserves happiness. We’ve supported the important work of TAPCPR in achieving equality and dignity for Taiwan’s LGBTQI community, including taking the issue of marriage equality to the Grand Justices in 2017. In May 2019, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. TAPCPR helps keep government accountable to its International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and works with the LGBTQI community to reduce discrimination and marginalization wherever it occurs. Winkler Partners is also a founding member of the Taiwan Inter-co LGBT Network, a community of LGBT and diversity affinity groups across industries.

Winkler Partners can help you and your business across the globe.  Through our active engagement in Interlaw–an elite global network of pre-eminent independent law firms, we can assist you to quickly assemble a world-class team of attorneys and legal resources from over 150 cities around the world.  We can coordinate global legal work from here in Taiwan or wherever else is most convenient for you. Find out more about Interlaw.

Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. Businesses who aspire to these values often provide greater benefits and allow for greater employee participation in their decision making processes; are open about the financial health of the company; have made a concerted effort to reduce waste and energy usage; have looked for ways to increase the amount of power they use from renewable sources, or even generate for themselves by installing solar panels and so on. We were already doing most of that, but put a stamp on it when we became the first law firm in Asia to become a certified B Corporation in 2017. Learn about the B Corp movement here, our B Corp Impact Score can be found here.

We have been a member of 1% for the Planet since 2008. 1% aligns businesses that want to do good with non-profits that need financial backing to carry out their important work. Companies of all sizes can work together to fight climate change, protect flora and fauna from increasing pressure on their habitats, and improve the natural environment for future generations. They do this by contributing at least 1% of sales (not profit) to non-profit organizations who use these contributions to sustainably fight to improve the environment where they’re based. Winkler Partners has been a 1% for the Planet member since 2008. Find out how you can become a 1% for the Planet member (either business or individual) here.

Winkler Partners has, in collaboration with Wild at Heart, supports the work of Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union, a network of nine environmental groups. Winkler Partners has sponsored workshops, international conferences and scientific research projects to better understand and protect an endangered population of Taiwanese white dolphins, also known as Matsu’s Fish. A major breakthrough came in 2018 with the endangered species listing by the United States Government, which will encourage greater protection of these indigenous animals. Learn more about Matsu’s Fish Conservation here.