About WWF's Trade and Investment Programme

WWF has a rich history of working on trade-related issues. As far back as 1990, WWF was amongst the first civil society organisations to engage on international trade and investment policy.

Since then, many other NGOs have recognised the critical importance of influencing international trade and investment issues in the course of pursuing sustainable development goals.

Currently, WWF 's engagement with these issues is evolving in new and exciting ways. Specifically, WWF has created a network of trade officers situated in a variety of influential global capitals in both the North and South to work on these issues. This Trade and Investment team is working cooperatively to pursue innovative means of effecting change, by creating cutting-edge models that can be replicated elsewhere.

The focus of the Trade and Investment Programme is the BRICS group of key emeging markets, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and its primary objective is to promote sustainable international trade and investment in these countries, through cooperation with various actors within both government and the private sector. The Programme examines the scope which exists for these countries to become significant exporters of, and investors in, sustainable goods and services, as well as emerging as leaders in the the promotion of a proactive international sustainable development agenda.

WWF's Trade and Investment Unit is led from the United Kingdom and managed and coordinated from both the United Kingdom and South Africa. WWF has dedicated trade officers based in Beijing, Brussels,  Johannesburg, Moscow and New Delhi. Additional policy officers based in Copenhagen and Stockholm provide critical expertise and support. These individuals are working with their national governments and businesses to develop and showcase new approaches to addressing these problems.