WWF’s primary goals focus on Forests, Freshwater, Food, Marine, Wildlife Conservation and Climate. The private
sector is as an essential partner in assisting WWF in achieving its mission and goals. We are interested in working
across a variety of industries with companies whose products, practices, supply chains, and business models have a
major impact on these issues critical to the survival of the planet. The companies that work with us will benefit as
more sustainable supply chains, greater efficiencies, and better risk management are in everyone’s best interest.
WWF has developed the following principles, upon which all our corporate engagements rest. Any agreement
defining our relationship, which is typically in the form of a memorandum of understanding, will reflect these principles.
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WWF’s relationships with the private sector are developed to reduce direct and indirect impacts on priority
places. Direct impacts arise from internal operations (manufacturing, greenhouse gases, transport, packaging,
etc.), and indirect impacts (sourcing, supply chain management, or embedded carbon and water).
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WWF’s work is driven by its mission and goals, and our relationships with companies are not work-for-hire or
consulting arrangements. Thus, the scope of our work will be driven by an assessment of what will drive the
conservation results we seek to achieve, and the agreement that defines our relationship will not contain
representations, warranties, or indemnities that might be found in a vendor or consulting agreement.
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WWF can help evaluate aspects of your business, such as your supply chain; however, we are not an auditor or
certifier.
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Corporate engagements are non-exclusive. The company and WWF are free to work with other companies and
organizations on the same or similar issues.
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Communications – both yours and ours -- about our relationship will be driven by and focused on our work
together to achieve performance-based targets and measurable on-the-ground results. Our agreement will
contain a simple process to ensure that we both have the right to review, edit, and approve or reject all
communications materials.
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We are externally accountable and transparent about our partnerships with businesses that provide funding to
us. Therefore, should our work together include funding of our work, WWF will have the right to disclose without
further review or approval: (a) your corporate name; (b) the amount of your financial support, within a range of
values only; (c) a very brief statement of the nature of our work together (e.g., “supply chain sustainability
collaboration”); and (d) the duration of our relationship.
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These types of corporate engagements do not include the right to refer to the relationship or to use the WWF
name or other trademarks (such as the WWF logo) at point of sale, to advertise the company’s products or
services, or in any manner that suggests or implies WWF’s endorsement of the company’s products or services.
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It is our policy that no corporate relationship will deter WWF’s good faith public commentary on, or efforts to
seek alteration of, company policies or actions that are contrary to our conservation mission. For example, we
reserve the right to comment publicly on any aspects of a company’s environmental performance—though it is
typical for us to incorporate a process that is mutually acceptable for resolving disagreements in the agreement
defining our relationship and in practice, to provide notification before any public statement.
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WWF’s guiding force in entering into corporate relationships is to further WWF’s mission. Consistent with this
principle, while we enter into and comply with appropriately limited confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements,
we retain the right to use the ideas, concepts and know-how we learn in other engagements and activities in
furtherance of our mission.
These core principles are intended to reflect and protect WWF’s integrity, the integrity of the corporation with which we are working, and the integrity of the work we do together as partners.
