Tag: World Wide Fund

Paris, France – Global hotel brand Novotel Hotels, Suites & Resorts has announced a new initiative to help guests and members actively support ocean conservation through purposeful points donations. This initiative follows the launch of its three-year partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), as well as being done with Dift (formerly Captain Cause) and ALL, Accor’s loyalty program.

The scientific conservation work of WWF France’s pioneering research boat, the Blue Panda, can now be supported by ALL’s members who wish to use their points as charitable donations to fund the work of the WWF. 

The new initiative enables ALL loyalty members to turn their Reward Points into fundraising to support WWF’s research protecting the Mediterranean’s precious ecosystems.

By donating loyalty points through ALL x Dift, ALL members can now directly contribute to the Blue Panda’s critical missions, which include conducting scientific research, advocating for marine protection policies, and running awareness campaigns to safeguard this essential region.

For context, the Blue Panda has been sailing every year since 2019 to raise public awareness of the environmental challenges of the Mediterranean, engage decision-makers for the protection of ecosystems and carry out scientific work, in particular for the protection of large cetaceans, the development of Marine Protected Areas and the fight against ‘ghost’ fishing gear.

Jean-Yves Minet, global brand president for Novotel, said: “This year Novotel signed a three-year partnership with WWF to support the protection and preservation of the ocean through science-based action, conservation projects and technical expertise. The partnership is about positive impact. This is what’s at the heart of our brand and our purpose.”

He added, “Partnering with WWF and Dift enables us to give our guests and ALL members the opportunity to transform their loyalty into a meaningful contribution to ocean preservation, turning Reward Points into positive impact. The health of our oceans is critical to the future of our planet, and this initiative empowers every ALL member to take action, no matter how big or small. Together, we can make a real difference, turning a simple hotel stay into a sustainable action. Every loyalty point donated is a step towards protecting marine ecosystems for future generations.”

This initiative reflects Novotel’s commitment to making a positive impact of its guests’ lives and the life around us. In June 2024, the global hotel brand announced a three-year partnership with WWF dedicated to supporting science-driven action and conservation. 

From 2024 to 2027, WWF France will provide technical expertise to Novotel, helping its over 590 hotels worldwide to have a positive impact on the ocean, challenging and guiding the brand and its properties throughout many aspects of its operations. 

The partnership will also see Novotel sponsoring several critical WWF ocean-related conservation projects across the world, including the Blue Panda research boat.

Manila, Philippines – The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in the Philippines, in partnership with Epson Philippines, have launched a 3D virtual museum to raise environmental awareness among Filipinos amidst issues of climate change nowadays.

The virtual museum will provide a platform that allows users from all over the world to have an immersive experience of going to an actual museum in the comfort of their homes. 

In relation with Epson Philippines’ ‘Turn Down the Heat’ campaign, the virtual museum will feature exhibits that will educate users on how they can help to reduce their impact on global warming by keeping track of their energy consumption and carbon footprint from their homes and workplaces. 

Justine Cruz, director for marketing and resource generation at WWF-Philippines, said that they aim at promoting an educational and discovery hub on the current state of the environment amid climate change.

“This virtual museum offers a three-dimensional immersive experience that will guide the people in learning and discovering how climate change affects various ecosystems. It aims to provide environmental awareness and help people reduce their impact on global warming as they actively track their energy consumption and carbon footprint through sustainable changes in lifestyle,” Cruz said.

Meanwhile, Eduardo Bonoan, marketing division general manager at Epson Philippines, commented that the educational features offered by the virtual museum will contribute to the environmental awareness of the youth, the academe, and the general public.

“Visitors can expect to learn about the effects of climate change on plants, animals, and humans as they navigate through the habitats and ecosystems featured in the virtual museum. The experience also includes suggestions on how they can integrate sustainable choices in their daily lives to conserve the environment. Through the virtual museum, EPC hopes to harness positive change as we work towards a greener tomorrow,” Bonoan concluded.

The virtual museum project will feature an audiovisual gallery of different ecosystems that provide users with various information on how these certain ecosystems are affected by climate change.

Singapore – Following the departure of Vivek Kumar from retail giant NTUC FairPrice as its director of strategic marketing and omnichannel monetization, Kumar is immediately announced by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Singapore as its newest chief marketing and communications director. 

As he brings in more than 20 years of diversified experience in management and strategic communications, Kumar will be leading WWF-Singapore’s campaigns, focusing on conservation and climate change goals such as deforestation, haze pollution, food security, plastics, sustainable finance, sustainable consumption, and illegal wildlife trade.

The role takes effect immediately, and entails him to work closely with communities, businesses and governments to advocate for positive change.

At NTUC, Kumar helmed the marketing of over 160 Cheers and FairPrice Xpress convenience stores across Singapore, as well as setting up the FairPrice Group Media.

He also held various roles in the Singapore Labour Movement since 2010, and was assistant director-general (ADG) and director of the membership services division of NTUC.

He shared that his leadership style centers around “peer-powered learning” that will help to foster meaningful connections among team members.

“As a leader, it is important to have empathy so that we can support our peers and colleagues. I am excited to be joining a driven, highly capable and diverse team at WWF-Singapore. I hope to engage individuals and companies in creating greater awareness through human-centric angles that support our mission and Singapore’s Green Plan 2030 goals,” Kumar said.

He also added that his interest working with the organization started out as a donor to one of WWF-Singapore’s initiatives and soon became his dream job to join the organization.

“I have always been driven by a sense of purpose, from volunteering in my college days, to my recent role with the Singapore Labour Movement supporting union members. As the 2021 IPCC report highlights, there is really no time for us to lose when it comes to the health of our planet,” Kumar said.

While still in his position at NTUC FairPrice, Kumar graced the recently-held roundtable of MARKETECH APAC ‘Business Growth Levers from Acquisition to Retention’ in September where he shared how the organization’s convenience store Cheers adapted to the changes in the pandemic which included doubling down on good consumer research and offering innovative products. 

“We can’t wait for the customers to come to us. We can create the right occasion [as long as] we understand the customer’s needs. We must give them very friction-free shopping experiences where they can complete their mission – you can’t leave it midway,” Kumar said in the roundtable.

Auckland, New Zealand – In an attempt to drive the message across the growing issue of plastic pollution across our oceans and seas, the New Zealand arm of non-profit organization World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has released a new campaign alongside creative agency Colenso BBDO to visualize the issue of microplastic pollution.

WWF New Zealand has released new perspective pictures of said issue through underwater photography. At first glance, the resulting images appear to be star systems, but on closer inspection, it’s revealed that the ‘stars’ are actually microplastics suspended in water.

The campaign is released as new studies have suggested that eight million tons of plastic pollution end up in the ocean each year, breaking down into tiny bits to become microplastics. This then ends up in our food systems, where it is estimated that people are ingesting around 5 grams of plastic a week.

“There’s a general awareness of microplastics in the ocean, but what we wanted to do was help people grasp the unbelievable scale of the pollution. It’s only when Kiwis really see the size of the damage being done that we’re motivated to act,” said Simon Vicars, executive creative director at Colenso BBDO.

Meanwhile, Livia Esterhazy, CEO at WWF New Zealand commented, “These images are hauntingly beautiful, and yet, it is when we look up close we discover the horror we have created. From the Mariana Trench to Mount Everest, there is not a single place on Earth untouched by plastic pollution. 

She added, “Most of this plastic was designed to be used only once, but will remain for generations. We hope, by seeing the sheer scale of the problem, people will be inspired to take action and help us ‘Stop Plastic Pollution’.”

WWF New Zealand’s nationwide ‘Stop Plastic Pollution’ campaign is asking New Zealanders to help call on their government to introduce a global, legally binding, agreement to stop plastics polluting their oceans.