PwC has been achieving many tremendous milestones in its pursuit toward sustainability. By the end of 2024, it claims to use 95% renewable electricity. Additionally, Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions from its operations have decreased by 71% from a FY19 baseline. PwC has been rated the global leader in ESG and sustainability by Verdantix in its 2024 Green Quadrant report. It is engaging the public and private sectors in changing scale on issues of climate change and how people, companies, and governments live more sustainably. For example, engagement in Davos, Climate Week, and COP28 shows how PwC is trying to shape the global agenda for sustainability.
Shifting Society to a Sustainable Future
The PwC strategies focus on creating impact change across industries, especially using sustainability as a force required for long-term resilience. The firm is continuing on its Net Zero commitment agenda and working with others towards reducing energy demand, ecosystems to be protected, and making the global decarbonise. “Businesses encounter a very wide and sweeping range of sustainability impacts and risks, as well as opportunities in their business operation and supply chains, therefore it requires a better alignment of these factors as time goes by,” explained PwC UK’s Global Sustainability Leader Will Jackson-Moore. “This allows businesses to reimagine and reframe themselves to grow and be stronger in the future.”
Under this umbrella, these will fit within PwC’s broader objectives to aid companies in managing the various impacts of sustainability while finding a way to incorporate lower-carbon operations. According to Colm Kelly, Global Corporate Sustainability Leader for PwC Ireland, “We continue to focus on progressing our Net Zero journey, managing physical risks in our value chain, and evolving our services to support clients as they transform. We remain committed to collaborating with governments, policymakers, and stakeholders to tackle challenges that arise in large-scale transformations.”
Recognitions and Achievements at Global Level
Of most noteworthy recognitions in this dimension of sustainability, industry rewards include:
Global Sustainability Lead in 2024 and ESG and sustainability through Verdantix.
Awarded EcoVadis Platinum rating: its groups at the US, UK, Netherlands, and German positions among the top 1 per cent of sustainability.
– Innovation in ESG Reporting: The EU’s CSRD ESG Reporting Manager for the company was conferred the SAP Innovation Award 2024.
– Recognition of Climate Disclosure: PwC received an A- for its 2023 climate disclosure by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). It is evidence of transparency and accountability.
The PwC UK Global Climate Leader, Emma Cox believes corporate action on climate adaptation is highly important. As impacts of climate change increasingly are coming up as frequent and strong, businesses need to raise the resilience for communities, sectors, and ecosystems in every part of the globe. Much to gain when actions on climate adaptation have been taken, this serves to be essential in securing and strengthening organizations for future years.
Innovative Ideas towards Sustainability
PwC is also sharing key insights with clients and industries on the future of sustainability and its implications for business strategy. From advising on ways to cut energy demand by up to 31% without sacrificing productivity to addressing compliance with the EU’s new CSRD, PwC is at the forefront of guiding companies through their sustainability transformations. According to the firm, two-thirds of companies are supposedly ready to report according to CSRD requirements but do not entirely know how to apply them to perfect their practices.
In addition, PwC also discloses investment opportunities in climate technology, which increasingly focus on growth potential and climate impact. “Business and sustainability are interdependent; one cannot thrive without the other,” said Ivy Kuo, PwC China’s Asia Pacific Sustainability Leader. “To remain viable, businesses must move sustainability beyond strategy and commitment, ensuring that they, the environment, and society are fit for the future.”
Net Zero Commitments in Progress
PwC ambitious sustainability goals start delivering by direct and indirect emission cuts:
71% REDUCTION FOR SCHEDULE 1&2 GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS against FY19 levels.
95% RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY SUPLY for the PwC network;
43% LOWER SCOPE 3 BUSINESS TRAVEL EMISSIONS against FY19 levels.
In the words of Renate de Lange, Global Sustainability Markets Leader at PwC Netherlands, this challenge is so huge and deep that it calls for wide-scale cooperation: “Combating climate change means making every business, country and community change. Therefore we must work together as one.”
Challenges and Opportunities Ahead
Although hope prevails for a greener energy transition and full decarbonization journey in the future, its pace is not without problems in the industry reports about an annual rate of required up to 2050 when global warming is aimed for 1.5° C. Risks, such as heat stress or drought, threaten fundamentals related to copper, iron, lithium, wheat, or even rice, which puts enormous pressure on measures having better climate adaptation.
It’s moving into becoming a more prominent part of corporate strategy, and almost a third of CEOs worldwide believe climate change will significantly affect their organizations in the near term. In this regard, PwC advises that proactive climate action transforms the chances of risks into opportunities to ensure long-term benefits in organizational resilience and growth.
Employee and Executive Perspectives on Sustainability
The study by PwC indicates that climate change now affects how employees view their future work. More than a third of respondents believe it will have a significant impact on their jobs in the short term-that is, within the next three years. The CSRD similarly provides executives with a basis for integrating more sustainability considerations into corporate strategy and identify opportunities for adding value.
While not a major component of this portfolio, in the private equity sector, a PwC 2023 survey reported that most firms are taking sustainability drivers into consideration in the creation of upside potential or unlocking value—a trend that is increasingly realizing ESG as a strategic advantage.
Conclusion
Such enormous successes of PwC in sustainability along with commitment towards climate leadership, indicate that the firm has made substantial contributions to move forward with ESG principles within sectors. As long as the firm continues to prioritize the Net Zero goal, then it innovates within the report on ESG reporting and advises businesses about adaptation with climate, then the corporation will be set against international benchmarks in sustainability for any corporate body.
The journey of the firm illustrates that sustainable transformation is an important aspect not only of being environmentally responsible but also ensuring long-term growth and business and community resilience.