World Future Council

Name

World Future Council

Legal name

World Future Council Foundation (Stiftung World Future Council)

Website

https://worldfuturecouncil.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Policy Advocacy and Sustainability Research Services

akta.pro primary industry

Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation (BPAGAGAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Climate Policy, Governance & NDC Support (BPADALAA)

Keywords

• Policy advocacy services
• Future generations rights
• Renewable energy policy
• International development research
• Nonprofit foundation services

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual donations: Charitable donations from private individuals via bank transfer to GLS Bank Bochum or online donation portal (Altruja-powered). Donations are tax-deductible; over 80% of donations flow directly to project work and policy research.
2. Foundation grants: Project grants from major foundations including Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) and Stiftung Mercator (e.g., funded the Global Renewables Congress launch).
3. Legacies and testamentary gifts: Inheritance and bequest giving program; legacies to the WFC foundation are exempt from inheritance tax under German law.
4. Corporate and institutional giving: Donations from companies and other foundations, including project-tied contributions and pro bono support (e.g., law firm Noerr).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

World Future Council is an independent charitable foundation that identifies, examines and disseminates effective, future-just policy solutions across climate, child rights, ecosystems, and peace & disarmament themes. Its core offerings include the biennial World Future Policy Award honouring pioneering laws, the FuturePolicy.org online database of proven policies, the Good Council podcast and Forward Thinkers webinar series for dissemination, the Youth:Present youth forum, and thematic programmes such as the 100% Renewable Energy Programme and the Scaling Up Agroecology Initiative. All work is anchored by a 50-member Council of global change-makers and delivered in partnership with UN agencies, parliaments and civil-society organisations.

Product overview

World Future Council (Stiftung World Future Council) is a Hamburg-based independent charitable foundation — not a software vendor — whose product/service portfolio is organised around a central advocacy platform (Council + Council members) augmented by a portfolio of named programmes and media properties. The portfolio comprises: (1) the flagship World Future Policy Award, a biennial award honouring best-in-class legislation; (2) the FuturePolicy.org online database of effective policy solutions (launched 2007); (3) the The Good Council podcast and the Forward Thinkers webinar series for dissemination; (4) the Youth:Present youth engagement forum; (5) thematic work-area programmes including the 100% Renewable Energy programme (with the Global Renewables Congress), the Scaling Up Agroecology / Himalayan Agroecology Initiative, the NonHazCity Building Award, the Tox-Free Construction Training, the WYAP Peace Project, and nuclear-disarmament work; and (6) the annual Pathfinder/Zukunftsfinder reports. These offerings fit together as a policy-research-and-dissemination platform: research and policy identification feed the FuturePolicy.org knowledge base, exemplary policies are then recognised through the World Future Policy Award, and dissemination is carried out via the podcast, webinars, publications, and youth forum.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Youth:Present: World Future Council's youth forum founded in 2022 to bring together change-makers aged 8–28 from around the world.
• World Future Policy Award
• FuturePolicy.org
• The Good Council

Products and services

• World Future Policy Award Biennial international award (running since 2009) that identifies and honours the world's best policy frameworks on a different theme each cycle — described by the WFC as an 'Oscar for the best policies.' Backed by 12 UN agencies with nominations from 193 governments annually.
• FuturePolicy.org Online database of effective, future-just policy solutions launched in 2007; serves as a global repository of best-practice legislation and policy examples curated by the WFC.
• The Good Council Podcast Podcast series launched in 2021 featuring forward thinkers, councillors, and partners discussing future-just policy solutions.
• Forward Thinkers Webinar Series Webinar series launched in 2021 featuring discussions with experts on effective future-just policy and practice.
• Youth:Present Youth forum founded in 2022 for change-makers aged 8–28 to discuss and present innovative solutions to global challenges; integrated into the WFC's Rights of Children and Youth work area.
• NonHazCity Building Award Recognition programme honouring cities eliminating hazardous chemicals in building and construction; ceremony scheduled for 26 November 2025 at Green Governance Day in Vilnius.
• 100% Renewable Energy Programme Programme started by the Climate and Energy team in 2013 promoting the global transition to 100% renewable energy; includes science-based RE roadmaps and the Global Renewables Congress platform launched in 2018.
• Scaling Up Agroecology / Himalayan Agroecology Initiative Programme promoting agroecology, including the Himalayan Agroecology Initiative in South Asia; in January 2026 Nepal handed over its National Agroecology Roadmap to the Government.
• Tox-Free Construction Training Training programme on non-toxic construction practices, part of the Ecosystems & Livelihoods work area.
• WYAP Peace Project Youth-focused peace project under the Peace & Disarmament work area.
• Pathfinder / Zukunftsfinder Annual Reports Annual reports (Pathfinder in English, Zukunftsfinder in German) detailing the Foundation's project work, financials, and policy research.

Quantifiable outcome

• 65 pioneering laws and policies from 40 countries honoured with the Future Policy Award
• +7 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• Technology for Agroecology in the Global South (TAGS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 January 2019Stuttgart-based start-up (a Bosch initiative) that co-organised the inaugural 'Outstanding Practice in Agroecology 2019' recognition with the WFC. 77 nominations from 44 countries evaluated; 15 projects awarded at International Green Week Berlin.
• NoerrminorOthersNoerr is listed as a WFC 'Supporter' on the homepage footer with the slogan 'Starke Persönlichkeiten sind starke Partner' (strong personalities are strong partners). Listed alongside WFC as a supporting partner, likely providing pro bono legal services to the foundation.
• Club of Rome DeutschlandcoreOthersHosts the WFC headquarters at its address (c/o Club of Rome Deutschland, Rosenstr. 2, 20095 Hamburg). Provides an institutional home for the WFC General Secretariat in Hamburg.
• United Nations agencies (12)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner12 UN agencies officially support the World Future Policy Award, lending institutional credibility and helping source nominations from 193 governments annually.
• Nobel Prize Laureates (22)flagshipGTM or Marketing Partner22 Nobel Prize Laureates publicly supported WFC's appeal to redirect military spending, lending high-profile endorsement and credibility to the campaign.
• IFOAM - Organics InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organized the Future Policy Award 2018 on agroecology together with the FAO; WFC identified policies that promote agroecology in partnership with IFOAM. Award ceremony held on 15 October 2018 in Rome.
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organized the Future Policy Award 2018 on agroecology together with IFOAM – Organics International, identifying laws and policies that strengthen agroecology worldwide.
• International Green Cross (GCI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as supporter of the Future Policy Award 2018 on agroecology, alongside Dutch Organic International Trade (DO-IT) and SEKEM Egypt.
• Dutch Organic International Trade (DO-IT)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as supporter of the Future Policy Award 2018 on agroecology.
• SEKEM Group (Egypt)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as supporter of the Future Policy Award 2018 on agroecology; SEKEM was founded by the late Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish and was a long-time WFC partner (Right Livelihood Award laureate).
• Global Renewables Congress (GRC)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCross-party, cross-country parliamentary platform launched during COP24 (Dec 2018) for the rapid promotion of renewable energy worldwide. Chaired by Bärbel Höhn. The WFC Foundation provides the secretariat of the GRC platform.
• Bread for the World (Brot für die Welt)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerGerman development organisation that jointly launched the '100% Renewable Energy for Bangladesh' project in 2018 with WFC and Coastal Development Partnership, supporting stakeholder workshops and implementation.
• Coastal Development Partnership (CDP)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerBangladeshi partner organisation co-implementing the '100% Renewable Energy for Bangladesh – Access to renewable energy for all' project launched in 2018.
• Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF), University of Technology Sydney (UTS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnical study partner for the Bangladesh 100% RE project; applied the OneEarth Climate Model to Bangladesh to develop future energy scenarios for the country.
• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerIFAD representative Shantanu Mathur served on the international jury for the Outstanding Practice in Agroecology 2019 recognition.
• Zero ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWFC became a partner of the Zero Project from 2010 to 2017 to advance implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
• AltrujacoreTechnology or IntegrationOnline donation service provider powering WFC's donation form. By using the donation form, donors agree to WFC's Privacy Policy and Altruja's Privacy Policy.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Germanwatch: Germanwatch is a Bonn-based environmental and development policy advocacy NGO that lobbies German and EU policymakers on climate, resource, and sustainability issues — directly comparable to WFC's policy-research-plus-advocacy model and headquartered in the same national ecosystem.
• Right Livelihood Award Foundation: Founded by the same person as the World Future Council (Jakob von Uexkull), the Right Livelihood Award (the "Alternative Nobel Prize") recognizes pioneering solutions to global problems and shares WFC's mission of amplifying effective, future-oriented solutions through an international award mechanism.
• Club of Rome: The Club of Rome is a global think tank focused on the future of humanity and the planet, and is the direct institutional host of the World Future Council's Hamburg headquarters (c/o Club of Rome Deutschland). It shares WFC's intergenerational, systems-level framing of sustainability challenges.
• Heinrich Böll Foundation: Affiliated with the German Greens and headquartered in Berlin, the Heinrich Böll Foundation is a political foundation that funds policy research, international dialogue, and advocacy on sustainability, democracy and human rights — closely mirroring WFC's donation-funded, policy-research-plus-award model in the same country.
• Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI): SEI is an independent policy research institute working on environment and development issues at the global, regional and national level, producing science-based policy analysis and convening decision-makers. It is highly comparable to WFC's FuturePolicy.org/100% RE roadmap work and its 100+ parliamentary workshops.

Broad incumbents

• World Resources Institute (WRI): WRI is a large, established global research organization producing data-driven policy analysis on climate, energy, food, water, and cities. It overlaps directly with WFC's Climate/Energy and Ecosystems work but at significantly greater scale, making it a broad incumbent rather than a like-sized peer.
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): UNEP is the UN's designated authority on environmental policy and a key partner in WFC's Future Policy Award and 100% RE programs. It is far larger and more institutionalized, but operates in the same climate/ecosystems/peace policy space and co-convenes with WFC.

Emerging players

• 350.org: 350.org is a global grassroots climate movement advocating for an end to fossil fuels, with comparable grassroots-driven, donation-funded operating model. It shares WFC's Climate & Just Development area but with a much more mass-membership activist base rather than an expert Council.
• IFOAM – Organics International: IFOAM is the worldwide umbrella organization for the organic agriculture movement and co-organized the Future Policy Award 2018 on agroecology with the WFC. It is a focused, like-missioned peer in WFC's Scaling Up Agroecology program (Himalayan Initiative, Nepal roadmap).
• International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN): ICAN is the leading civil-society coalition behind the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. It is a focused peer in WFC's Peace & Disarmament work area and a likely supporter of WFC's "redirect military spending" campaign backed by 22 Nobel Laureates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/good_policies
• YouTubeyoutube.com/wfcinitiative
• Facebookfacebook.com/wfc.goodpolicies
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/world-future-council
• Instagraminstagram.com/worldfuturecouncil

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about World Future Council