Friend of the Earth was founded in 2016 on the initiative of Paolo Bray, founder, and director of the World Sustainability Organization, which is based in Italy and operates worldwide and whose key objective is the conservation of ecosystems.

Friend of the Earth is an international certification scheme for sustainable agriculture and breeding that has been developed within the guidelines of the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and whose principles are based on the safeguarding and protectio

Friend of the Sea was founded by Paolo Bray, Director of International Programs – Dolphin-Safe Project / Earth Island Institute. The Dolphin-Safe Project saved millions of dolphins from death in tuna fishing nets and started the sustainable seafood movement. Friend of the Sea is currently a project of the World Sustainability Organization, an international NGO whose mission is to promote environmental conservation.

Friend of the Sea is the only sustainable fisheries certification process recognised and supervised globally by a National Accreditation Body. Several benchmark studies have confirmed the strength and reliability of the Friend of the Sea certification and chain of custody.

Friend of the Sea was founded by Paolo Bray, Director of International Programs – Dolphin-Safe Project / Earth Island Institute. The Dolphin-Safe Project saved millions of dolphins from death in tuna fishing nets and started the sustainable seafood movement.

Global interest in the Friend of the Earth certification scheme has grown rapidly in recent years – we have seen a 100 percent increase in uptake from 2019 to 2020. Now over 5,000 farms, employing an estimated 50,000 farmers, have had their production, with an estimated total value of more than 1.5 billion euros, certified by Friend of the Earth.