Deloitte invests $1 billion in Sustainability & Climate service
As the professional services industry looks to invest in their environmental services, Deloitte has earmarked $1 billion for its sustainability and climate wing. The Deloitte Sustainability & Climate practice will bring together the firm’s diversity of talents to support clients in their transition to net zero.
With businesses around the world committing to net zero transitions over the coming decade, many are turning to professional services firms for support. As demand for ESG consulting services booms, the world’s largest advisory and audit firms are boosting their sustainability offerings, or investing in rolling out new services all together.
Among them, Boston Consulting Group has committed to spend $400 million on climate positive goals before 2030, while MBB rival McKinsey & Company has launched a new ESG practice to back clients as they green their operations. Accenture has leveraged a massive acquisition campaign – as the firm does for many of its other service lines – to ramp up its environmental credentials, while Big Four firm KPMG stated in 2021 that it would invest over $1 billion in sustainability and ESG services.
Not to be outdone, Deloitte – the world’s largest professional services firm by revenue – has announced that it will also be sinking $1 billion into a new sustainability brand over the coming years. Building upon decades of experience and client service, the Deloitte Sustainability & Climate practice aims to develop and deploy thought leadership, research, and solutions to support clients as they redefine their strategies, embed sustainability into their operations, meet tax, disclosure, and regulatory requirements, relating to their environmental impacts.
By creating a unified Sustainability & Climate wing, led by Jennifer Steinmann, Deloitte aims to bring together advisory, assurance, audit, consulting, finance, and tax services from across its global entity. In doing this, it hopes to equip Deloitte's 345,000 professionals and client network with the skillset and knowledge to further battle climate change.
Punit Renjen, Deloitte Global CEO, stated, "Taking action on climate change and sustainability more broadly is not a choice. It's an imperative. And we all have a role to play. But it's the business community that's best positioned to lead the way on this. We have the resources, skills and influence to help build stronger and more sustainable communities. And it's our collective environmental and societal footprint that has the potential to make or break this decade of action.
The move comes as, while consulting firms are determined to get their own houses in order on the climate by reducing their carbon footprints, many accept they will have a greater impact if they can help clients downsize their emissions. Similarly, Big Four giant PwC has also put its role in the broader business world at the heart of its sustainability efforts.
Renjen added, “This is our way of not only holding ourselves accountable for accelerating progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and commitments of the Paris Agreement, but effectively facilitating action across the business community."
