WWF Sets Up Fund for Sustainable Leather Supply Chains

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has launched a new initiative to improve the sustainability of leather supply chains.

The Deforestation-free Leather Fund will invest in projects to enhance the traceability and resilience of leather supply chains, targeting geographies with ecosystems at higher risk of environmental degradation.

The projects will initially include operations in Brazil, with the possibility of expanding to other beef-producing countries in South America in the near future.

WWF is seeking contributions to the fund from brands, retailers, leather processors and manufacturers.

The fund will enable companies to deliver their deforestation-free commitments, send strong market signals to cattle ranchers, beef producers and leather producers, and contribute to more sustainable leather production.

“While leather is a byproduct of the beef and dairy industries, it still carries responsibility for embedded impacts and emissions in the supply chain,” says Fernando Bellese, senior director for beef and leather supply chains at WWF. “Companies that use leather, including those in the furniture industries, have unique leverage within the supply chain to encourage and support more sustainable practices by influencing beef and tannery operations.”

The fund will extend existing initiatives and support new efforts to scale adoption and align effective systems that enable end-to-end traceability in cattle supply chains to verify responsible sourcing; direct investments to address farm-level challenges and opportunities to improve cattle production; and assist farmers and ranchers to formalize operations, rehabilitate degraded farmland and establish pathways for continuous improvement.

The fund also aims to support the ear-tagging and individual traceability of one million head of cattle in the first three years of activity, promoting the recovery of 45,000 hectares of degraded land in the same period.

WWF will oversee the governance and day-to-day management of the fund, aiming to collect $10 million from companies to cover the first three years of on-the-ground operations. Contributions will be requested based on annual revenue for brands and retailers, and on the numbers of hides processed annually for leather processors and manufacturers.

Since 2023, WWF has been a leading partner of the Deforestation-Free Call to Action for Leather, a joint initiative with Leather Working Group and Textile Exchange that asks brands and retailers to commit to sourcing leather from deforestation and conversion-free supply chains by 2030 or earlier. The Call to Action currently has 22 signatory companies representing more than $300 billion in annual revenue.