Change starts with us
Something truly extraordinary is happening in the world today: Governments, businesses and individuals are embracing a sense of responsibility that goes far beyond their own interest — sharply focused by the recognition that climate change is an existential threat to humanity.
This reality challenges businesses to report on their impact, reassess their purpose in society and become a force for good — for employees, customers, suppliers and the communities in which they operate.
The global vision for a sustainable world is summed up by the need for the highest standards of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. The responsibility to uphold these standards requires KPMG firms to embed an ESG perspective into all services, to lead by example through Our Impact Plan and to truly become a trusted, purpose-led organization.
To meet this challenge, KPMG firms will spend more than US$1.5 billion over the next three years to focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Our strategy will ensure that ESG is the watermark that runs through our global organization, with the goal of supporting clients in every sector and geography to make a positive difference.
This investment will focus on training each of more than 227,000 people and expanding KPMG’s global workforce further, harnessing data, accelerating the development of new technologies and driving action through collaborations, alliances and our own actions. The key to the transformation will be in embedding ESG across the global in the organization and developing client solutions to help drive measurable change.
Find out more about each priority area here.
This new global ESG strategy focuses on five priority areas:
- Solutions
- Talent
- Supporting developing nations
- Collaboration and Alliances
- Listening and advocacy
Key developments include:
- KPMG Regional ESG Hubs to be established in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Americas to support clients on their ESG journey.
- KPMG Emerging Markets Accelerators to deliver region-specific support and financing expertise to help developing nations.
- Collaborations with Cambridge University Judge Business School and New York University (NYU) Stern Executive Education to provide broad-ranging ESG training for KPMG colleagues.
- KPMG firms to co-create and deliver ESG services with an ecosystem of leading alliances.
This global ESG strategy comes less than a year after the launch of Our Impact Plan, which lays out KPMG firms’ commitments on ESG themes — with the ultimate goal of making an even greater positive impact on the world. We were the first professional services organization to transparently report against the World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Metrics. The plan sets out a range of science-based targets, including a pledge to become a net-zero carbon organization by 2030.
The execution and acceleration of Our Impact Plan is a key priority to help KPMG firms deliver on their collective commitments to tackle ESG issues, from the climate crisis to social mobility and community engagement.
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About KPMG
KPMG is a global organization of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. We operate in 146 countries and territories and in FY20 had close to 227,000 people working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such.
KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients.
Throughout this webpage, “we”, “KPMG”, “us” and “our” refers to the global organization or to one or more of the member firms of KPMG International Limited (“KPMG International”), each of which is a separate legal entity.