Rewilding Europe recognizes that the corporate sector has an important role to play in advancing our rewilding mission. In these collaborations and partnerships, we always seek a direct connection to our mission and clear rewilding benefits with lasting, measurable outcomes.
We believe that the application of business principles and collaborating with companies can provide an important contribution to the success of large-scale nature recovery in Europe. We invite companies who have set relevant ambitions in their sustainability strategies and want to become nature positive, to work with us to achieve our mission.
To ensure mutual benefits, we designed a set of Principles of Corporate engagement that help design potentially successful engagements between Rewilding Europe and the corporate sector.
1. Rewilding Benefit First
The proposed engagement is meant to advance one of our key objectives as laid out in our Strategic Plan 2021-2030 and needs a defined, meaningful rewilding benefit that
- includes one or more of the rewilding landscapes that we work in;
- supports a thematic or cross-cutting component that significantly increases Wilder Nature, Benefits for People, Building Engagement or Scaling Up;
- provides (significant) funding for rewilding; or
- anticipates influencing changes in corporate practices, that will result in increased benefits to nature recovery with measurable results within a three-year period.
2. Aligns with Mission and Values
Important starting point of any engagement is that it will be consistent with Rewilding Europe’s Mission and Values and respects potential sensitivities of Rewilding Europe’s members, donors, strategic and operational partners, communities and regions or countries in which it works. Examples of potential compromise include a conflict of interest or an implication that the relationship will influence Rewilding Europe’s role or priorities.
3. Commitment to Nature Recovery and Environmental Sustainability
The company will demonstrate a commitment to advancing nature recovery and sustainability objectives of significant, lasting, and measurable scope. The company must have policies or practices to address its significant sustainability impacts. The corporation will report transparently on its progress in implementing these policies and practices. Rewilding Europe will engage only when satisfied with the company’s level of commitment and performance, as determined by due diligence.
4. Endorsement
Rewilding Europe’s relationship with a corporation is in no way an implied or real endorsement of a corporation or industry. All public communications regarding corporate engagements are subject to prior agreement by Rewilding Europe and the corporation. No third party entity, including a corporate, may use Rewilding Europe’s name and/or trademarks, including its local rewilding partners, without explicit written permission.
5. No Undue Benefit
The engagement must not result in private benefit to a corporation – whether a financial benefit or publicity – that exceeds the benefits received by Rewilding Europe and its mission. Although we realise this is difficult to measure, the level of promotion should be reasonable and appropriate to the type of engagement.
6. Transparent and Independent Role
Rewilding Europe will always be publicly transparent about its role in and the use of information that may be produced as a result of corporate engagement. At Rewilding Europe’s discretion, peer organizations, governments, the academic community, and other interested parties may be consulted about the rewilding work. The engagement will take place on the following terms:
- Rewilding Europe and the corporation agree that the primary analysis or work product is not proprietary to the corporation or foundation, will be freely offered to interested governmental agencies, other companies and stakeholders, and may be published in peer-reviewed scientific literature or other print media.
- Rewilding Europe retains the option to publicly comment on the merits of any corporation’s activities, development proposals or other matters that affect our rewilding priorities.
- Rewilding Europe will disclose the identities of companies with whom it engages and the nature and purpose of its corporate engagements.
- Rewilding Europe might share general knowledge and expertise gained in corporate engagements to promote better rewilding business practices and public policies at sectoral, national, and international levels.
7. Corporate Reputation, Policies, and Practices not a risk to Rewilding Europe
The corporation’s reputation, policies, and practices will not present a risk to Rewilding Europe’s reputation or ability to achieve any of its objectives that is greater than the achievable benefits of the engagement. These risks include, among others, environmental risks; human rights violations or similar abuses by the corporation; prosecution of the corporation for illegalities, including Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABC) issues; regulatory compliance failures in places or countries where Rewilding Europe works; or a highly-publicised controversy related to the corporation.
8. Right to Terminate
Rewilding Europe will continuously evaluate the rewilding impact of its work with corporations, and may discontinue concrete corporate engagements if the impacts achieved are not satisfactory. Rewilding Europe must retain its unilateral right to terminate a corporate engagement for reasons relating to actual or potential reputational harm or legal compliance, breach of an agreement, and misuse of Rewilding Europe’s intellectual property including it’s name.
9. Acceptance of Funds
In conjunction with any corporate engagement, Rewilding Europe may accept funds from a corporation to support achieving our mission when:
- It does not compromise, or appear to compromise, Rewilding Europe’s independence, objectivity and practice, and
- It does not conflict with an existing engagement with the corporation.
If you would like to become a corporate partner, please contact our Finance & Operations Director Johan Booij at johan.booij@rewildingeurope.com or by phone +31 (0)6 14 448 630.