Two of the world’s biggest professional services firms have this week announced ambitious goals to slash greenhouse gas emissions and secure net zero status within the next decade.
Boasting combined revenues of more than $60bn, EY and KPMG each outlined a range of actions to achieve net zero emissions and bolster their green credentials with the publication of sweeping new sustainability strategies.
EY confirmed on Monday it aims to become ‘carbon negative’ this year by significantly reducing its absolute emissions and removing and offsetting more carbon that it emits. The goal is in support of a longer term target to become a net zero emission organisation by 2025.
The company outlined its new net zero plan in a sustainability statement, which details seven measures that should see total emissions reduced by 40 per cent on course to reaching the net zero goal.
The new targets include pledges to reduce business travel emissions by 35 per cent, reduce overall office electricity usage and procure 100 per cent renewable energy, and structure electricity supply contracts via virtual power purchase agreements (PPAs) to introduce more clean electricity than EY consumes into national grids.
The firm said it will also work to calculate and reduce carbon emissions emitted when working with clients, invest in services and solutions that help EY clients decarbonise, require 75 per cent of its suppliers to set science-based emissions targets, and offset more carbon than it emits.
“EY has set this ambition because it is increasingly clear that, collectively, we need to do even more to avert a climate change disaster,” said Steve Varley, EY global vice chair. “We are deeply concerned about the science and what that means for our planet. We believe that becoming carbon negative in 2021 and net zero by 2025, reducing our emissions in line with a science-based target, is the right ambition to have.”
The news came in the same week as KPMG today published a roadmap detailing how the firm aims to reach net zero emissions by 2030, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent and securing 100 per cent renewable electricity, before offsetting any residual emissions.
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