Nonprofits like World Wildlife Fund give companies guidance and guardrails for going green

Nonprofits like WWF play an important role in helping companies adopt practices of accountability and meet sustainability goals.

• World Wildlife Fund is evolving its climate strategy to give more guidance to companies looking to mitigate emissions. 
• Insider's Financing a Sustainable Future advisory council cited WWF, along with other organizations, as key partners in climate action. 
• This article is part of the "Financing a Sustainable Future" series exploring how companies take steps toward funding and setting their own sustainable goals.

In the race to combat the climate crisis, no company can do it alone. Nonprofits and NGOs play a huge role in setting expectations for accountability and transparency, as well as best practices, for corporations looking to go green.

Insider asked the Financing a Sustainable Future advisory council to share what climate-focused nonprofits and NGOs are partnering with companies to drive tangible outcomes. The World Wildlife Fund was cited by several members. Organizations like WWF are evolving their frameworks to accommodate the heightened interest and investment.  

"We are working on a new climate strategy. The nexus of nature and climate is very important to us," said Marcene Mitchell, WWF's SVP for climate. "We are at a point where there is a lot of interest, particularly from multinational corporations, in investing in nature."

Investing in nature often takes the form of carbon offsets projects, for example investing in renewing forest areas. But WWF and other experts say that carbon offsets need to be the last step in emissions abatement, and not all programs are effective.

That is why the organization is focusing on helping companies identify and invest in areas that will deliver the best return for the planet. "It's very important that it's done in a way that has high integrity, Mitchell said, "and has the long-lasting impacts that we want for people, nature, and the climate." 

WWF last November, during COP26, rolled out new guidance on nature-based interventions, like carbon credits, that companies turn to mitigate climate impact. The organization is currently evaluating the integrity and quality of programs that currently exist. Another priority is that the programs support indigenous populations who are critical stewards of the natural environment.

"The concept is scaling up finance for nature," Mitchell said. "How to marry it in terms of not being a race to the bottom, but a race to the top — a race to high integrity, and prices that reflect putting in the type of management and reforestation to get the climate impacts in the long run." 

WWF is just one of many organizations working with corporations on transparency and standards. Following is the complete list of nonprofits and NGOs surfaced by the advisory council, along with their official descriptions. 

World Wildlife Fund

As the world's leading conservation organization, WWF works in nearly 100 countries to tackle the most pressing issues at the intersection of nature, people, and climate. We collaborate with local communities to conserve the natural resources we all depend on and build a future in which people and nature thrive. Together with partners at all levels, we transform markets and policies toward sustainability, tackle the threats driving the climate crisis, and protect and restore wildlife and their habitats.

CDP

CDP is a not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states, and regions to manage their environmental impacts. Over the past 20 years, we have created a system that has resulted in unparalleled engagement on environmental issues worldwide.

[Edit. For companies ready to take the first step, CDP's disclosure deadline is July 27, 2022.]

United Nations Global Compact 

At the UN Global Compact, we aim to mobilize a global movement of sustainable companies and stakeholders to create the world we want. That's our vision.

Rockefeller Foundation

We improve lives and the planet, and unleash human potential, through innovation. We are dedicated to the principle that all men and women – dignified and resilient as they are – have the right to health, food, power, and economic mobility. We seek to advance those goals with better use of science and data and through collaboration with partners and grantees. By identifying and accelerating breakthrough solutions, ideas and conversations, The Rockefeller Foundation works to improve the well-being of people everywhere.

World Resource Institute

WRI is a global research organization that works with governments, businesses, multilateral institutions, and civil society groups to develop practical solutions that improve people's lives and ensure nature can thrive. We organize our work around seven global challenges: Food, Forests, Water, Energy, Climate, the Ocean and Cities. We analyze these issues through the lenses of our four Centers of Excellence: Business, Economics, Finance and Equity.

Verra

Verra is a global leader helping to tackle the world's most intractable environmental and social challenges by developing and managing standards that help the private sector, countries, and civil society achieve ambitious sustainable development and climate action goals.

Verra's global standards and frameworks serve as linchpins for channeling finance towards high-impact activities that tackle some of the most pressing environmental issues of our day.

Gold Standard

Gold Standard was established in 2003 by WWF and other international NGOs to ensure projects that reduced carbon emissions featured the highest levels of environmental integrity and also contributed to sustainable development. With the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, we launched a best practice standard for climate and sustainable development interventions, Gold Standard for the Global Goals, to maximize impact, creating value for people around the world and the planet we share.

Ceres

Ceres is a nonprofit organization transforming the economy to build a just and sustainable future for people and the planet. We work with the most influential capital market leaders to solve the world's greatest sustainability challenges. Through our powerful networks and global collaborations of investors, companies, and nonprofits, we drive action and inspire equitable market-based and policy solutions throughout the economy.

Center for Climate and Energy Solutions

C2ES is the successor to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, which was founded in 1998, and is widely recognized as an influential and pragmatic voice on climate issues.

Environmental Defense Fund

Environmental Defense Fund's mission is to preserve the natural systems on which all life depends. Guided by science and economics, we find practical and lasting solutions to the most serious environmental problems. What distinguishes Environmental Defense Fund is the combination of what we protect and how we protect it.

World Resources Institute 

Since its founding in 1982, WRI has been guided by its mission and core values which are integrated into all that we do.  Our mission: To move human society to live in ways that protect Earth's environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.