The private sector is an essential partner in building a future in which people and nature thrive. Because the most pressing threats to our planet cannot be addressed by any single entity acting alone, WWF seeks to connect businesses that are committed to advancing nature conservation with other stakeholders, including governments, civil society, and occasionally other businesses that share a commitment to protecting life on earth.
WWF understands that convening businesses that may compete with each other - even when the purposes for convening are solely legitimate and procompetitive – can present risks of anticompetitive behavior, which must be addressed. Therefore, WWF has developed internal guidelines to help ensure that private sector partners convened by WWF are appropriately advised by their corporate counsel and conduct themselves at all times in a manner consistent with all applicable antitrust laws.
Specifically, corporate parties participating in meetings convened by WWF are consistently advised by WWF that they are responsible for compliance with applicable antitrust laws; that they must not discuss or propose agreements or coordinated behavior that may restrain competition in any market, including agreements regarding specific customers or territories, prices, margins, output, supply terms, and marketing; that they must also refrain from disclosing competitively sensitive information (information that could influence competitive decision making in any market including prices, discounts, marketing plans, R&D, or any other competitive aspect of an individual company’s operation); and that participants are obligated to speak up immediately for the purpose of preventing any discussion falling outside these bounds.
All participants are directed to address any questions with their corporate legal counsel.
The guidelines additionally provide information to WWF staff on required practices for convening meetings with private sector partners and are provided to all staff involved in such meetings, along with appropriate training.
