Earth Cubs Partnerships and Brand Alignment Policy

Purpose

Earth Cubs exists to inspire a generation of children to care for the planet. Every partnership, licensing relationship, and commercial association we enter into must be consistent with that mission. This policy sets out clearly who we will and will not work with, and the principles that guide those decisions. It applies to brand partnerships, sponsors, licensees, platform relationships, media partners, franchise operators, and any third party whose name or identity will be associated with Earth Cubs in any meaningful way.

Our Guiding Principle

We apply a single test to every prospective partner: are they genuinely trying to make the world a better, cleaner, and safer place?

We do not require perfection. Many organisations are on a journey - transitioning business models, improving supply chains, reducing emissions, or rethinking how they operate. We are open to working with organisations that are honestly engaged in that journey, where the intent is demonstrable and the direction of travel is clear.

What we will not do is lend the Earth Cubs brand to organisations whose primary motivation is commercial gain with no meaningful commitment to positive change, or who are using association with an environmental brand to create an impression of responsibility that is not supported by their actual behaviour.

The distinction is between genuine progress and performance. We will engage with the former. We will not provide cover for the latter.

How We Hold Ourselves to the Same Standard

We do not ask of our partners what we are not prepared to demand of ourselves. Earth Cubs is actively working to reduce its own negative impact on the world - in supplier choice, daily operations, content production, and every commercial decision we make. Here are some of our headline initiatives and aspirations:

• Ecologi - we are an Ecologi subscriber and offset the carbon footprint of our team and business activity through their verified nature-based solutions.
• Planet Mark - we are a Planet Mark member and are actively working towards Net Zero across our operations.
• Future Planet - we are members of Future Planet and actively participate in that community - both to support our own continuous improvement and to contribute to the improvement of other member organisations.
• BCorp - we are on a BCorp mission. The BCorp certification process is rigorous and demanding, and we are committed to meeting its standards across governance, workers, community, environment, and customers.
• 1% for the Planet - we are in the process of becoming a 1% for the Planet member, committing a portion of our revenues to environmental causes regardless of profitability.
• SDGs - every piece of content we create is linked to one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The SDGs are the framework through which we understand our mission, design our programmes, and measure our impact.

We are also proud to commit 20% of our available profits to charitable grants in support of sustainability education - a commitment that is embedded in our governance and not simply a policy aspiration.

Partners We Actively Champion

Beyond commercial partnerships, Earth Cubs actively seeks to celebrate and promote the work of organisations, charities, and individuals who are making the world a better place. Where we encounter people and organisations doing genuinely important work - whether in conservation, clean energy, education, community resilience, or child welfare - we will use our platform, our channels, and our community to amplify that work.

This is not a transactional relationship. We promote good work because it is good work, and because our audience of children and families deserves to see it. If you or your organisation is doing something that matters, we want to know about it.

Partners We Will Work With

We welcome conversations with organisations that meet one or more of the following:

• They have a credible and independently verifiable sustainability commitment, with measurable targets and transparent reporting
• They are actively transitioning away from environmentally or socially harmful practices, with a clear timeline and accountability
• Their products and services are designed to benefit children, families, the natural world, or the communities in which they operate
• They operate in the education, media, entertainment, food, consumer goods, technology, or retail sectors with a genuine commitment to responsible practice
• They are a public body, NGO, or charitable organisation aligned with environmental or children's educational outcomes
• They are a company in transition - energy, agriculture, manufacturing, logistics - where leadership has made a public and substantive commitment to change, and where that commitment is being delivered against

In all cases, we carry out due diligence before entering into any formal agreement, and we reserve the right to withdraw from a partnership if the facts change or if a partner's public conduct becomes inconsistent with the Earth Cubs brand.

Partners We Will Not Work With

Regardless of the commercial terms offered, Earth Cubs will not enter into partnerships with organisations in the following categories:

• Tobacco and nicotine products - this includes cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, and all vaping and e-cigarette products and brands, whether marketed to adults or not.
• Alcohol - this includes brewers, distillers, wine and spirits brands, and alcohol-led retail and hospitality businesses.
• Adult entertainment - this includes any content, platform, or brand associated with adult sexual content, gambling, or betting.
• Fossil fuel companies without credible transition commitments - we will not partner with oil, gas, or coal companies, or mining companies, that have made no meaningful public commitment to reducing environmental harm and are not actively delivering against one. Where a company in this sector has a credible, independently assessed, and publicly reported transition plan, we will consider the case on its merits.
• Greenwashing organisations - we will not provide brand association to any organisation that presents itself as environmentally responsible without substantive evidence to support that claim, or that uses sustainability language primarily as a marketing instrument rather than a reflection of genuine practice.
• Overtly partisan political organisations - Earth Cubs is not affiliated with any political party, movement, or ideology. We will not partner with organisations whose primary purpose is political advocacy, or whose identity is strongly associated with a particular political position. Our mission is to bring children and families together around shared values of care for the planet - that mission is not served by political alignment in any direction.
• Organisations with strong religious affiliation as a primary identity - we are inclusive of all faiths and none, and we celebrate the diversity of families who engage with Earth Cubs. We will not partner with organisations whose primary identity and purpose is religious promotion, where that association could reasonably cause members of our community to feel excluded.
• Organisations under active investigation or with recent upheld findings - any organisation subject to active regulatory investigation, or with recent upheld findings of serious misconduct in relation to environmental harm, child welfare, or consumer deception, will not be considered for partnership until those matters are resolved and remediated.

How We Apply This Policy

Partnership decisions at Earth Cubs are made by the founding team with reference to this policy. For significant or novel cases - where a prospective partner does not fit neatly into the categories above - the decision will be escalated to board level, and where relevant, to our advisory network.

We expect partners to reciprocate with transparency about their own values, practices, and any material matters that could affect the Earth Cubs brand.

We review this policy annually, or sooner if the commercial or regulatory environment requires it.