Deloitte chooses WDC as charity partner to help save whales and save the planet

We are delighted to announce that Whale and Dolphin Conservation has been chosen as a WorldClimate UK charity partner by leading global professional services firm Deloitte.

The new partnership will help WDC grow its ambitious ‘Green Whale’ initiative, which seeks to establish whales as an ‘international public good’ and allies in the fight against climate breakdown.

Deloitte is supporting WDC through pro bono and volunteer support. In particular they are helping us introduce new ‘blue finance’ mechanisms for whale conservation and research globally. Deloitte and client volunteers will also be able to join WDC projects, such as our urban beach clean programme that protects oceans by clearing plastic and rubbish in their local communities.

Chris Butler-Stroud, chief executive of WDC says: “We are delighted to have been selected as one of Deloitte’s WorldClimate charity partners and have been blown away by their passion and commitment for our work. Having Deloitte on board brings immense added skills and knowledge and will allow us to radically scale up our ambitions for protecting whales and dolphins around the world.

“We have been campaigning to save the whale for decades. What few people realised until recently was just how much we need whales to save us. They play an outsized role in helping the ocean absorb carbon and mitigate the threat of climate and ecological breakdown. WDC is building a global network of scientists, conservationists, economists, and businesses, all united in our ambitions to save the whale as intelligent beings, and our climate allies. Having Deloitte on board is a huge step forward for us and we’re excited to see where the relationship takes us.”

Earlier this month, Deloitte launched a new policy paper, A Drop in the Ocean, with WDC and Marine Conservation Society at COP26, highlighting the shockingly low levels of funding for ocean conservation.  Just 1% of global climate finance is spent on the ocean, despite it being the planet’s greatest natural asset and largest carbon sink.

The paper highlighted the huge capacity for business to provide finance, and WDC is taking a lead by establishing the Climate Giant Project, backed by corporate partners Brita, Livework and Animal Friends, as an exciting new model for businesses to play a positive role in ocean conservation.