Event information
Agenda
10.00am-11.00am Arrival and registration
11.00am-11.05am Welcome address
-
- Francisco Castro, research editor, Legal 500
11.05am-11.15am Opening brief: ESG priorities shaping Portugal in 2026
This opening presentation will frame ESG as a business‑wide priority shaping strategy, capital flows and governance across Portugal. It will provide a concise overview of the regulatory landscape, highlighting key EU frameworks, and assess how recent developments are influencing disclosure practices, due‑diligence expectations and corporate accountability in the Portuguese market. It will also examine sustainable finance as a major accelerator of ESG integration, outlining how lenders and investors are embedding sustainability criteria into financing terms and how this is reshaping corporate behaviour, data quality demands and project execution. In all, its aim is to set a clear, market‑facing foundation for the discussions that follow at the ESG Forum: Portugal 2026.
-
- Bruno Ferreira, managing partner, PLMJ
11.15am-11.55am How corporate governance and sustainable finance are shaping Portugal’s energy transition
Portugal’s energy transition is accelerating, and with it comes a growing need for governance structures and financing models capable of supporting complex, capital‑intensive projects. This panel will examine how corporate governance and sustainable finance are shaping the country’s transition landscape—both enabling progress and, at times, creating friction.
The discussion will explore how boards and executive teams are adapting oversight and decision‑making frameworks to manage transition‑related risks. It will consider how responsibilities are distributed across legal, compliance, sustainability, procurement and project delivery functions, and how General Counsel teams are embedding ESG requirements into contracts, approvals and project governance to ensure regulatory alignment and commercial discipline.
Sustainable finance will be addressed from a practical perspective, focusing on how financing structures influence project design, risk allocation and supply‑chain diligence. Panellists will discuss how lenders’ expectations around contractor performance, ESG metrics and transparency increasingly shape governance decisions from the outset.
On the execution side, the panel will assess the operational constraints that continue to challenge Portugal’s transition ambitions, including permitting and licensing timelines, grid capacity limitations, contracting models and delivery risk. Drawing on anonymised case themes, speakers will highlight what has accelerated project execution and what has slowed it down.
Finally, the conversation will consider the role of EU‑level frameworks—whether they function primarily as compliance hurdles or as strategic opportunities to unlock investment and harmonise standards. Together, these insights will offer a concise, cross‑functional view of how governance and finance are influencing Portugal’s ability to deliver its energy transition at scale.
-
- João Marques Mendes, partner, PLMJ
- Cláudia Teixeira de Almeida, head of sustainability, Banco BPI
- Nuno Moraes Bastos, head of corporate secretary, compliance and data protection officer, GALP
- Diogo Graça, deputy director and manager of legal affairs, REN
11.55am-12.10pm Coffee break
12.10pm-12.50pm Litigation, liability, and the new enforcement era for sustainability claims (across sectors)
As regulatory scrutiny intensifies across Europe, organisations in every sector are facing a new enforcement era for sustainability‑related claims. This panel will examine the growing landscape of ESG‑driven disputes, investigations and liability exposures, with a focus on how greenwashing, inaccurate disclosures and misleading sustainability statements are rapidly evolving into core legal and reputational risks.
The discussion will explore the typical trigger points that give rise to litigation and regulatory action, from sustainability reports and corporate websites to marketing materials, investor presentations and product or service claims. Panellists will assess how these touchpoints are being tested by regulators, competitors, consumers and NGOs, and what this means for corporate risk management.
Recent case law developments will be analysed for their practical impact in Portugal, including how courts and regulators are interpreting sustainability‑related representations and the evidentiary standards emerging around ESG disclosures and due diligence obligations. The conversation will also address the increasingly relevant question of directors’ personal exposure, examining when governance failures, oversight gaps or misleading statements may translate into direct liability.
Our expert speakers will provide a cross‑sector view of how legal, compliance and sustainability teams must adapt to a more assertive enforcement environment – one in which sustainability claims are no longer treated as aspirational messaging but as statements capable of creating binding legal obligations.
-
- Raquel Azevedo, partner, banking and finance and capital markets, PLMJ
- Carla Góis Coelho, partner, PLMJ
- Carlos Martins Ferreira, group general counsel, Jerónimo Martins
- Filipa Rodrigues Carmona, associate director, sustainability, Caixa Geral de Depósitos
- Céline da Graça Pires, lecturer and business and human rights specialist, NOVA Centre for Business, Human Rights and the Environment
12.50pm-1.00pm Closing remarks
-
- Francisco Castro, research editor, Legal 500
1.00pm-2.00pm Networking and light lunch
Speakers
Carla Góis Coelho, partner, PLMJ
Carla is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution practice, bringing over 15 years of experience in civil and commercial litigation. She has developed an extensive track record representing clients in complex contractual, corporate, and M&A disputes, as well as in product liability matters, with particular expertise in class actions.
Her practice includes both complex litigation and strategic pre-litigation advisory work, with a significant portion of her caseload involving international and multidisciplinary matters.
Carla has developed a strong focus on key sectors of the economy, regularly advising clients in the transport, energy, and technology industries, as well as investment funds and financial institutions.
She is recognised for her pragmatic approach to dispute resolution and her ability to navigate high-stakes litigation across multiple jurisdictions.
João Marques Mendes, partner, PLMJ
João is a partner in the Projects and Energy, and Public Law practices. With over 15 years of professional experience, he has focused on the area of energy and natural resources, providing legal assistance with regulatory, projects, transactions and litigation, to Portuguese and international clients.
In the area of energy and public law, his main focus has been advising on the implementation and operation of projects and infrastructures, with a special focus on renewable energies. He advises Portugal’s leading energy companies, especially on regulatory and contractual issues. He also advises on dispute resolution in the fields of energy and regulatory.
João is the author of numerous papers and articles on energy law and has frequently been invited to lecture and participate as a speaker in classes and conferences in the fields of energy and regulatory law.
Raquel Azevedo, partner, banking and finance and capital markets, PLMJ
Carlos Martins Ferreira, group general counsel, Jerónimo Martins
Carlos is the Legal and Compliance Director and Deputy General Secretary of Jeronimo Martins Group. He is also a Member of the Executive Board of Jerónimo Martins, SGPS, S.A..
He previously served as a Judge in the courts of Lisbon, Cascais, Oeiras and Sintra until 2010, before returning to Jerónimo Martins to head its legal function.
Between 2019 and 2022, served as Chair of the Corporate Responsibility and Anti-Corruption Commission of ICC Portugal (the Portuguese National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce).
Bruno Ferreira, managing partner, PLMJ
Bruno is managing partner and partner in the banking and finance and capital markets practices, and he has over 15 years’ experience in giving legal advice in these areas. He specialises in advising on complex transactions in Portugal and internationally, combining transactional and regulatory advice with advice on financial issues, including project finance operations, leveraged finance and asset based finance.
Cláudia Teixeira de Almeida, head of sustainability, Banco BPI
Claudia has over 30 years of experience at BPI, where she has held roles across Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate and Project Finance, and as head of Corporate and Business Marketing and Accounting, Planning and Capital. She has also served as a non-executive board-member of Allianz Portugal, S.A., and as a member of the General and Supervisory Board of Portugal Capital Ventures – Sociedade de Capital de Risco, S.A.
She holds a degree in Business Management from the Faculdade de Economia da Universidade do Porto and has completed executive programmes at Stanford University (USA), INSEAD (France), and the International Faculty of Finance (London). She has also taught at Universidade Lusíada do Porto and at the Instituto Superior de Gestão Bancária.
Nuno Moraes Bastos, head of corporate secretary, compliance and data protection officer, GALP
Nuno is Head of Corporate Secretary, Compliance and Data Protection Officer at Galp, where he supports the company’s governing bodies and oversees corporate governance, compliance and regulatory matters at group level. He plays a key part in ensuring robust governance frameworks within a complex, international energy company. With extensive experience in legal, compliance and corporate governance roles, Nuno previously served as Executive Board Member and Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at Santander Consumer Finance, following earlier roles across the financial services sector. He holds a law degree from the Portuguese Catholic University and is actively involved in executive education and governance forums.
Céline da Graça Pires, lecturer and business and human rights specialist, NOVA Centre for Business, Human Rights and the Environment
Céline da Graça Pires is a Paris Bar–qualified lawyer currently practising as an independent Business & Human Rights expert, with over ten years of experience advising multinational companies across a range of sectors. She supports organizations in embedding human rights into their core business strategies, with particular expertise in the French Duty of Vigilance law, the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D), and Germany’s LkSG.
Her work focuses on human rights due diligence, including conducting on-the-ground Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIAs), designing grievance mechanisms, and supporting stakeholder and community engagement, as well as access to remedy across complex global supply chains.
She has extensive experience in the luxury, mining (including gemstones), energy, and agriculture sectors. Céline also designs and delivers tailored training programs for both executive leadership and operational teams, and has led field missions in Latin America and Africa, including in high-risk and conflict-affected contexts.
Filipa Rodrigues Carmona, associate director, sustainability, Caixa Geral de Depósitos
Filipa is Associate Director for Sustainability at Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD). She leads the development and integration of the bank’s sustainability and ESG agenda across strategy, governance and core business activities. She has been closely involved in advancing sustainable finance, aligning CGD with international frameworks and regulatory requirements, and supporting the bank’s ambition to play a leading role in Portugal’s transition towards a low‑carbon, inclusive and resilient economy.
With over 15 years of professional experience in sustainability, Filipa has built a career spanning consultancy, retail and financial services. Prior to her current leadership role at CGD, she worked in sustainability-related functions within the bank and previously held roles at KPMG Portugal and Lidl Portugal, where she focused on sustainability management, climate and environmental performance and sustainability reporting. She holds a degree in Environmental Engineering from NOVA University of Lisbon and a postgraduate qualification in Integrated Management Systems from Instituto Superior Técnico, bringing strong technical expertise to her work at the intersection of sustainability, risk and business transformation. She has a certification on Sustainability and Climate Risk of Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP).
Diogo Graça, deputy director and manager of legal affairs, REN
Diogo is currently responsible for the Legal Advisory Unit within REN’s Legal Services Directorate.
He has developed his practice in the areas of projects, public law, public procurement, public‑private partnerships, banking and commercial law, advising private companies and public bodies, mainly in the energy, healthcare, financial institutions, transport, pharmaceutical, infrastructure, security networks and telecommunications sectors.
