World Wildlife Fund pays tribute to King Harald

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has paid tribute to King Harald.

Karoline Andaur, Secretary General of the WWF, said, “It is with great sadness that we have received the news of the death of His Majesty King Harald.”

She added, “We at WWF are deeply grateful for King Harald’s voice for nature. With clarity, warmth and commitment, he conveyed the importance of, in his own words, ‘protecting all living things around us’. Our deepest condolences go to the family and to the entire population of Norway. We have lost a socially engaged, warm and unifying king.”

King Harald has supported the WWF since its founding in 1970. He became the first and only president of the WWF as Crown Prince, a role which he held for 20 years. When he became King, he became an honorary member of the organisation. King Harald became the High Patron of WWF in 2021. He was also the High Patron of the 2020 TV campaign, A Sea of ​​Opportunities, which helped WWF’s work to stop plastic pollution in the ocean. 

King Harald was committed to the climate. In 2022, in his New Year’s Address, he stated, “Many young people write to me expressing concern that not enough is being done to take care of nature and our earth. Young people are giving up on adults who are not taking strong enough action, and not fast enough. I share the young people’s concern, and their impatience. The hope is that the new goals that world leaders have set must be followed by action. We now need everyone’s impatience before time runs out. I cannot express this strongly enough.”