KPMG Switzerland Sustainability Report 2021 out now KPMG Switzerland Sustainability Report 2021 out now

Our goal is to create long-term value for our firm, our people and our key stakeholders. During the business year 2020/21 we made further progress within the three pillars of our sustainability approach: Innovation, Workplace of the future and Carbon footprint reduction. 

We recognize that we are subject to the shifting values, behaviors, and expectations of our stakeholders. As we respond to a changing environment, we are balancing our responsibilities to generate profit, contribute to the development of our people and communities and to protect our natural resources. We believe that the only sustainable way to do so is to strive for a long-term balance between economic, social, and environmental factors. This requires the consideration of multiple criteria, some of which cannot be easily quantified. It requires us to consider not only the importance of our actions for our stakeholders but also the weight of the different stakeholders for our business: Our clients, our people, our communities and the environment.

We identified three key sustainability themes that represent the focus areas of our sustainability program, which is aligned with our purpose, values and strategy and is linked closely with KPMG's global sustainability strategy.

• Carbon footprint reduction: KPMG is determined to play its part and take measures to reduce our carbon footprint, focusing on the biggest negative contributor: mobility.
• Workplace of the future: COVID-19, climate change and socio-economic shifts are reshaping how we will work together in the future. We will continue to develop our strength as an employer of choice by promoting our employer value proposition and core values.
• Innovation: To deal with the scope and speed of change, we need to be agile. Innovation is the central enabler for this. With key initiatives like KPMG Innova, we can identify areas of growth and targeted innovation, where accelerating digitalization will develop solutions with lasting value.

The basis of the trust our clients place in us lies in our efforts to ensure auditor independence, protect the confidentiality and privacy of the information entrusted to us and comply with laws, regulations and professional standards.

Digitalization, new technologies, the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, geopolitical shifts and changing values are shaping our future and represent the key challenges businesses are going to face. We support our clients in managing risks and seizing opportunities that arise from this transition for example, through our continuous investment in digital solutions and sustainability services. Indeed, KPMG's global ESG plan includes an investment of more than USD 1.5 billion over the next three years to focus on our ESG change agenda — designed to support member firms in making a positive difference, globally. 

• 100 percent of client-facing KPMG staff have received ethics, independence, anti-bribery and data security training
• Zero cases of corruption among employees of our firm brought against KPMG
• 600 solutions in our technology portfolio to be adapted to our clients' challenges and opportunities
• 12,500 professionals from around the world ready to deliver data-driven technology solutions

Our great ethnic and cultural diversity is represented by our employees from 55 nationalities. As an equal opportunities employer, we are also convinced that diverse and inclusive teams create qualitatively better outcomes, as they allow for better decision-making, drive greater creativity and innovation, better meet the needs of clients and society, and are more motivating for our employees.

Our employees benefit from a combination of thorough internal training, on-the-job coaching and digital learning. Besides well-established classroom training to practice specific skills, a wide range of digital learning content focusing on role-specific and future skills is made available to employees of all levels. We also support both short- and long-term internal job moves that enrich and promote multidisciplinary collaboration.

• 227,584 hours of professional training provided
• 42 percent of staff are women
• 50 percent women on the Board of Directors
• Inclusion & Diversity trainings provided to 150 Partners and Directors

At the end of 2020, KPMG Global announced its target of becoming a net-zero carbon organization by 2030. The Swiss firm supports this global initiative by committing to the climate-related targets above. This year, we made significant progress with the implementation of these ambitions through establishing our environmental policy, revising our travel policy to require all non-chargeable, non-client-related travel to be pre-approved or establishing on a firm-level an annual "carbon budget" for air travel that is broken down to each Function and monitored by the Function leadership.

We further increased our direct community investment and launched a new volunteering program. In addition, via the KPMG Foundation, we continue to pursue positive change beyond our core business and support innovative projects in the areas of education, integration of people with special educational needs and disabilities, socially disadvantaged people and people in distress.

• 100 percent renewable electricity since June 2021
• 100 percent biogas in our headquarters in Zurich
• CHF 1.6 million in community investment
• Verified carbon credits purchased against 100 percent of our emissions

Learn more about it in our Sustainability Report 2021 (PDF).

2021 was a year of change. Despite the challenging business environment, our clients have continued to place their trust in our expertise and services. We acknowledge that we are on a journey, and that we must continue to strengthen our corporate responsibility and reporting. As we enter a phase of regrowth and cautious optimism we will continue to build on our strengths: our people, our client-centricity and our multidisciplinary business model.