Welcome to the Varda Group

The Varda Group is made up of people who have dedicated their lives to protecting the health and well-being of our planet and its inhabitants. After many years of working for international organizations, we established Varda in 2003. We do everything from coordinating campaigns to providing strategic advice and expertise across a wide range of environmental and social issues. Consultancy services are provided by Varda BV (The Netherlands), Varda Desarrollo Sostenible SL (Spain), and Varda Ltd (UK).

The Varda Foundation (Stichting Varda) is a not-for-profit organisation which carries out charitable projects in keeping with our mission and values.

Our mission is to create maximum change for the benefit of people and the planet through:

• Developing and/or implementing projects which lead toward the improvement of the environment, public health, and social welfare;

• Capacity building and sharing of expertise with non-governmental organisations;

• Providing strategic input, analysis and advice to non-governmental organisations, governments, business and/or intergovernmental organisations for the purposes of accelerating positive change.

Current projects

June 2014

• Coordination and drafting of the report of the Global Ocean Commission

• Participation and presentation at the Pew French contractors' annual meeting, in Paris

• Logistical support and political advice at the EU Commission "Re-Energizing the Oceans" conference, in Brussels

• Participation in the UN Working Group on Biodiveristy in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), in New York

• Input in the UN Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals

• Arrangements for the global ocean international petition with the change.org online platform

• Release of the report of the Global Ocean Commission, and launch of the Mission Ocean campaign, at the Museum of Natural History, New York

May 2014

• Program advice and meeting facilitation for Action Aid UK

• Conducting a review of the Antarctic Ocean Alliance campaign for Marine Protected Areas in the Southern Ocean

• Preparation and facilitation of Greenpeace’s international Executive Directors Meeting

April 2014

• Participation in the UN Working Group on Biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction, on behalf of the Global Ocean Commission

• Mission Ocean in the Vatican to discuss the future of the global ocean

• Evaluation of Greenpeace’s ‘Arctic 30’ action

• Campaign advice to Friends of the Earth UK

More