Gucci joins The Lion’s Share Fund

Italian fashion house Gucci has joined The Lion’s Share Fund to support wildlife conservation by funding the unique initiative to tackle what it calls “the crisis in nature, biodiversity and climate across the globe”.

The fund, led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a coalition of businesses and UN partners, aims to raise over 100 million US dollars per year within the next five years for animal conservation, biodiversity and climate by asking brands to contribute 0.5 percent of their media spend every time an animal is featured in their advertisements.

Marco Bizzarri, president and chief executive of Gucci, said in a statement: “The Lion’s Share Fund is an important addition to our conservation strategy. Nature and wildlife provide Gucci with inspired creation that is an integral part of our narrative through our collections and campaigns. With the increasing threats to the planet’s biodiversity, groundbreaking initiatives like The Lion’s Share Fund have the potential to be transformative by organically connecting the business community with direct action to protect our natural habitats and most threatened species.”

“In a similar way, since 2018, Gucci has been totally carbon neutral across our supply chain and we offset our remaining emissions every year through REDD+, which protects critical forests and biodiversity around the world.”

Achim Steiner, UNDP administrator, added: “This partnership with Gucci marks the continuing evolution of this innovative fund, which provides a unique opportunity for brands across all industries to join forces and help preserve and protect biodiversity across the globe.

“Wildlife populations are half the size they were just 50 years ago, and their habitats and ecosystems are destroyed at an unprecedented rate due to human activity. The Lion’s Share is an idea that is as innovative as it is simple – and it makes a real impact on wildlife conservation.”

Animals appear in approximately 20 percent of all advertisements in the world, yet despite this, animals do not always receive the support they deserve, explains The Lion’s Share Fund, and its aim is to give brands the opportunity to take urgent and significant action and play their part in protecting our planet.

Since the fund’s launch in September 2018, it has already produced results, by providing grants to boost critical radio systems for law enforcement officers protecting wildlife in Mozambique’s Niassa Nature Reserve and helped to decrease elephant hunting rate to zero, and by providing grants to reserve lands for endangered elephants, orang-utans, and tigers in North Sumatra in Indonesia.