Our Environmental Ambition

PwC Net Zero

Our global commitment is to become Net Zero, in line with SDG 13. Net Zero simply means not adding new emissions to the atmosphere. For PwC this comes down to reducing our absolute emissions as much as possible, but by at least fifty percent. We offset our remaining emissions with Carbon Removals, for example by planting new forests to extract CO2 from the atmosphere. Combined, this makes our emissions Net Zero.

We report our emissions in accordance with the GHG protocol of the World Resources Institute (WRI) and in line with the criteria and recommendations of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). Through our compliance with near-term (2030) SBTi we ensure that our environmental ambitions and targets are sufficient to limit global temperature rise to well-below 1,5°C compared to pre-industrial levels, the preferred goal of the Paris Agreement.

The focus on global carbon emission reduction is important. It is the most important step we can take to limit climate change and live within the means of our planet.

PwC strives to make positive contributions to society and the environment. We do this through our people, our business, and by increasing the sustainability of our own organisation. We want to be at the forefront of the transition to a more sustainable society. In line with our Global strategy ‘the new equation’, we realize bold and result-oriented solutions: technology-driven and human-centric.

PwC has been climate neutral for years, this simply means that we offset all of our CO₂ emissions. In 2017 we introduced an internal CO₂ price of 100 Euros per tonne CO₂. In September 2020, PwC announced its global Net Zero ambition in line with the maximum of 1.5 degrees temperature rise as defined in the Paris agreements.

In concrete terms, our Net Zero ambition means:

• At least 50% absolute reduction in 2030
• Compensate for remaining CO2 with Carbon Removals
• At least 50% of our suppliers (based on emissions) commit to similar reduction
• To learn more about our business operations and upstream emissions, please read our Climate Action Plan. 

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is the organisation that assesses whether scoping, objectives, and progress of companies are in line with the Paris climate agreements. SBTi is a collaboration of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). PwC's global near-term (2030) emissions reduction targets, part of our 'Net Zero by 2030' ambition to combat climate change, have received independent validation from the SBTi.

The price of our carbon emissions forms our sustainability budget

A good way to reduce carbon emissions is to price them. We even take this a step further: the price of our emissions directly forms our sustainability budget. The budget for our financial year 2023/2024 was 1.1 milion euros. We invest this in Net Zero projects and innovations.

We charge one hundred euros per tonne of carbon. This amount is based on a study by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB). It also includes social costs, which raises it above the market price for carbon offsets.

What else are we doing to achieve net zero?

• We have launched a pilot together with start-up Winnow in which we use machine learning to measure food waste so that we can reduce it.
• We use Giant Leaps to analyse the environmental impact of our catering. We encourage healthy eating, less meat consumption and the use of seasonal vegetables.
• Our head office in Amsterdam is undergoing a circular renovation together with our suppliers. The windows, interior walls, carpet, cabinets, furniture: almost everything is being reused.
• We take part in Closing the Loop’s One for One programme. For every new phone we buy, we collect one from landfills in Africa.
• We offer leftover meals and products to Too Good To Go. That way, we contribute to reducing global food waste.
• The materials in our buildings come with a Madaster materials passport. This makes clear the origin and sustainability of the materials. Insight helps to keep materials infinitely available.
• We procure new lighting on a circular basis. That focuses on light 'as a service' and on maximum reuse.

EcoVadis Platinum sustainability certificate for PwC the Netherlands

PwC the Netherlands has been awarded the EcoVadis Platinum Certificate. This highest sustainability ranking places us among the one percent of the world's most sustainable companies.

EcoVadis is the world's leading provider of business sustainability assessments. EcoVadis has already assessed the sustainability of more than 130,000 companies. EcoVadis analyses a wide range of non-financial management information in four different sustainability categories: environment, labour and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement. We score especially well on the ethics and labor & human rights categories, receiving ninety out of a maximum of one hundred points in these categories. We scored eighty for the environment category. For sustainable procurement, a category for which we recently introduced a circular procurement policy, we have a score of seventy. PwC has a total score of 86, which places us in the top 1% of companies rated by EcoVadis.

We have been assessed on sustainability since 2013. This serves to compare our organisation with other companies in the sector and helps us become more sustainable as we work towards our ambition of being a fully circular organisation by 2030. Since 2013, our EcoVadis score has risen from 59 to 86 in 2024.