John Suhar is the Vice President of Environmental and Social Impact at the World Surf League (WSL), where he spearheads sustainability and social impact initiatives across the league's global operations, tours, and events. He also leads WSL PURE, the nonprofit arm of WSL, dedicated to inspiring, educating, and empowering ocean protection while investing in the communities where WSL events take place.
John’s leadership has been instrumental in driving the WSL’s sustainability efforts. He oversees a cross-functional sustainability team and stewards the WSL One Ocean coalition, which includes over 200 organizations such as Patagonia, YETI, Shiseido, Conservation International, Surfrider, and NRDC.
During his tenure, John has guided the WSL to several groundbreaking achievements, including reducing emissions by 49% from the baseline year and neutralizing Scope 1-3 greenhouse gas emissions with a 100% nature-based solutions portfolio. He developed event sustainability guidelines that resulted in a 70% reduction in waste from the 2018 baseline and secured global sustainability sponsors to generate revenue for WSL. John has also played a pivotal role in engaging ambassadors, influencers, and audiences through impactful environmental campaigns like #WeAreOneOcean, #GlowingGlowingGone, #StopTrashingWaves, and #WSLOneOcean.
To amplify WSL’s impact, John designed and launched the inaugural WSL PURE Grant Program, providing critical funding to grassroots organizations working to protect the ocean. Grants have helped to educate over 35,000 youth, collect 100 tons of plastic from rivers, conserve 347,291 hectares of land, and beyond.
John’s deep understanding of environmental issues, coupled with his passion for surfing helps to ignite a community of surfers and ocean lovers to get involved in protecting our one ocean, to preserve the future of surfing for generations to come.
