Can you discuss your or your company’s efforts relating to renewability, sustainability, or other environmentally friendly activities?  

Xignux Foundation. Xignux Foundation is the instrument by which we contribute to the sustainable development of the communities in which we are involved. Our actions are focused on four priority areas of social investment: energy, nutrition, education, and community development. Guided by these principles, we seek out partnerships with leaders of other organisations and sectors of society to create lasting solutions that will further the common good. The volunteers of Xignux Foundation—employees and family members—invest their time, talent, and resources to energise the lives of others. 

IFIX. A proper balance between professional and personal life, and with the well-being of our people and their families, is fundamental at Xignux. Both of these are essential for doing our jobs well, in a pleasant, ethical, and productive environment. For this reason, we created the Xignux Comprehensive Training Institute (IFIX), in which we provide various professional and human development programs for our employees and their families. 

Our five pillars are: Employee training, Xignux women’s advancement, family integration, education of children and youth, and social formation. 

We also have an alliance with Asociación Nacional Pro-Superación Personal, A.C. (ANSPAC) to encourage holistic education and advancement by strengthening human values. 

Social responsibility and sustainable development model. With our social responsibility and sustainable development model, we focus our initiatives on four priority areas (education, nutrition, energy, and community development), also in four fields of action (ethics and values, planet, our people, and community). The projects and initiatives allow us to improve the performance of our Xignux sustainability indicators, to move towards business sustainability. 

Why are in-house lawyers well-placed to drive change in their organisations?  

As opposed to outside counsel, in-house lawyers have a keen knowledge not only of legal matters related to their organisation but also of the way day-to-day operations are run by management. The involvement of in-house lawyers in environmental compliance and matters related to actions and claims brought by different governmental authorities and third parties provide in-house lawyers with exposure and experience coupled with a deep sense to identify areas of opportunity where change is needed in order to comply with the vast array of environmental regulations. Furthermore, in-house lawyers do have associations and chambers where they can contact their peers in other companies to share their experiences in dealing with different situations and how they coped with them. This “sharing experience” is not only limited to environmental problem-solving issues but also includes the bigger picture of what trends companies are following in their organisational structure in order to comply and prevent environmental contingencies.  

It is all but certain that, in the near future, more environmentally stringent regulations will be enacted by authorities at all levels of government (local, state, and federal) to fight pollution and climate change. We strongly believe that in-house lawyers are poised in a unique position to drive change in their organisation based on their legal and operative knowledge, experience, and social network.