Our planet
Becoming a nature-positive business
Placing nature on the path to recovery
The truth is: the natural world is changing. And we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water and air. It is the most precious thing we have and we need to defend it.
Sir David Attenborough
1) The Economics of Biodiversity The Dasgupta Review: Headline Messages (publishing.service.gov.uk)
2) Nature Risk Rising: Why the Crisis Engulfing Nature Matters for Business and the Economy
3) Global Risks Report 2022
4) WEF: 5 reasons biodiversity matters
5) Mind: Nature and mental health
6) National Environmental Treasure: Why is nature so important for humans?
While we may not have the largest impact on nature compared to other sectors, from our initial materiality assessment, we know much of our impact is associated with our value chain.
We have sourcing principles for some of the products we purchase:
We’ve started to reduce our impact through our operations, such as introducing chemical free cleaning across our larger offices.
We also work closely with our catering supplier to further reduce our impact. We’ve removed all unsustainable palm oil from our catering outlets, stopped using air freighted products and we’re reducing the amount of meat we consume by encouraging colleagues to choose vegan and vegetarian options.
We’re also working with our suppliers to reduce our impact. This year we asked over 100 suppliers to provide information on what they are doing in relation to biodiversity, as part of their annual CDP Climate Change disclosure. We also brought our suppliers and other businesses together to discuss nature and biodiversity.
We know that biodiversity is a subject close to many of our colleagues’ hearts, so we have been supporting them to learn more about the topic through our Sustainability Unplugged sessions. In 2021, to mark World Environment Day we focused on biodiversity with a webinar focused on recent developments in this area and tools available to companies to assess their impact. This year we heard from a vegan bodybuilder the benefits of switching to a plant-based diet.
We’ve also held wildlife photography competitions two years in a row in collaboration with our internal conservation network, encouraging colleagues to get out into nature.
The Net Zero economy is going to bring about an unprecedented demand for ‘green skills.’ We’re working with schools to build students’ ‘sustainability mindset’ and help prepare and excite them for the changing world of work.
In the 2021-22 academic year, we worked with the Economist Educational Foundation to support students develop critical thinking, literacy and numeracy skills around the world’s biggest challenge: climate change. Over 16,000 students took part, with a further 1,000 students engaging in online Topical Talk debates, supported by KPMG volunteers.
In collaboration with The Talent Foundry, our flagship employability programme, WorkReady, has educated more than 19,000 students (2013-2022) about the changing world of work through developing their digital literacy and green skills. Using the Skills Builder framework, the programme opens their eyes to the importance of digital fluency, adaptability and transferable skills – such as creativity and problem solving – while developing solutions to environmental issues faced by businesses and their clients today.
To mark COP27 in November 2022, schools across the UK joined our “Inspiring Positive Climate Action” broadcast. The session gave an insight into insights from the COP27 event and advice on the action young people can take to tackle the climate crisis. Students took part in a sustainability challenge where they presented an environmental sustainability project plan, showing the action their school is taking to help tackle climate change. We awarded the winning schools with a cash prize to help them put their plans into action.