Francisco Bolinaga Hernández is a partner at D’Empaire and Director of the Environmental Area, where he leads a multidisciplinary practice in environmental, water, and administrative law. For nearly three decades, he has focused almost exclusively on environmental consulting, providing clients with what is, in practice, an outsourced strategic and comprehensive environmental management function for their matters.

In the multi-variable context where environmental matters are shaped by technical, legal, regulatory, financial, social, and reputational factors, among others, his approach has always gone beyond legal risk alone. Since founding Bolinaga Levy Márquez & Canova in 1999, where he headed the firm’s Strategic Environmental Management Directorate, he has specialized in building multidisciplinary teams and institutional relationships to manage each case, coordinating professionals, technicians, and public and private institutions toward a complete solution for the client.

His work spans sectors including hydrocarbons and mining, food and beverage industries, metallurgy, construction, general manufacturing, water resource management, and the administration of protected natural areas — covering environmental permitting, impact assessment, environmental liabilities, due diligence, contingency response, risk, litigation, sustainability and ESG strategy.

Before entering private practice, he served as in-house counsel to Venezuela’s National Parks Institute (INPARQUES), external legal advisor to the Ministry of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (MARNR), and legal counsel to the Los Roques Archipelago National Park Authority.

He graduated in Law from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (1989) and holds a specialization in Environmental Management from Universidad Metropolitana (2007). He has served on the Environment Commission of Venezuela’s industrial confederation, CONINDUSTRIA — which recognized his work as an environmental consultant in 2007 — and represented the industrial sector in the drafting and discussion of key regulatory instruments, including Venezuela’s Water Law and Organic Environmental Law. He has also lectured at conferences and congresses on water law, environmental impact assessment, and Venezuelan environmental legislation and management.

From 2011 to 2017, Chambers & Partners ranked him Band 1, Leading Individual for Environment in Venezuela (Latin America guide). The firm’s Environmental Area has been ranked a Leading Firm for Environment since 2013 to date.

Fluent in Spanish and English, Francisco welcomes the opportunity to connect with colleagues, clients, and institutions working at the intersection of environmental, legal, and business strategy.