Planet

Since we began measuring emissions in 2007, we have significantly reduced our total carbon footprint. A new baseline was set by the PwC Network in FY19, and our ambition to halve our carbon footprint by FY30, is measured against that. Most of our remaining emissions are from Scope 3 sources, the most significant of which relate to business travel related to client work and client-related events.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift to remote working and demonstrated the feasibility of new delivery models of our services, as part of a longer-term transformation. Then, since FY19, we succeeded in decreasing our emissions by 55%. This is a good start, but we need to keep that CO2 consumption level up to FY30, while we expect a significant increase in our activity until then. This is quite a challenge. 

To further reduce our environmental impact, we plan to move to an even more energy-efficient headquarters (expected for completion in 2027). This new building will be fully taxonomy-compliant and carbon-neutral (in construction and operations). It will use 100% renewable electricity and will be WELL Platinum certified  and BREEAM Outstanding Environmentally certified. Thanks to photovoltaic panels and more energy-efficient equipment, our future campus is expected to allow a reduction of our electricity consumption by 30% and our heat usage by 70% compared to the current headquarters.

^{*See our Net Zero disclosures.}

Business travel is an essential part of how we operate and service our clients. It is also our largest source of (controlled) emissions (about 80%). Our objective is to reduce by 50% our business travel emissions by FY30 compared to our FY19 emissions. 

Our Scope 3 emissions for FY24 remain well below FY19. We will continue to work to reduce our emissions as part of our aim to halve our operational footprint by FY30 compared to the FY19 baseline. See our PwC Luxembourg's sustainability transformation journey.

To manage our Scope 3 emissions target, we have implemented measures to reduce emissions and to decouple travel from the growth of our business by strengthening our travel policy. Our target is to limit our carbon emissions to half of our FY19 emissions while our business continues to grow.

To achieve this goal while continuing to keep a focus on building strong and personal client relationships, we are focusing on:

• Travelling smarter: When travel is necessary, we prioritise cleaner transportation modes, such as travelling by train instead of flying whenever possible,
• Travelling less: We engage with our clients from the outset of an assignment regarding trip planning to reduce the number of journeys, identify the key moments of a mission lifecycle to decide between remote or face-to-face meetings, use local or regional resources, review the international training and events planning, and encourage hybrid types of meetings for larger groups with some physically present and others via videoconference, and
• Monitoring: We endeavour to monitor travel CO2 emissions closely. A CO2 budget for business trips is allocated to each line of service and managed by the sustainability leaders, then monitored by our central Net Zero and travel teams.

^{*See our Net Zero disclosures.}

In July 2021, our emissions reduction targets were independently validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

We are encouraging our suppliers to get their emission reduction targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Our goal is to have at least 50% of CO2 emissions related to the supply chain with suppliers validated greenhouse gas reduction targets by FY25. In FY24, we assessed that 42% of our CO2 emissions were from suppliers with valid near-term Science-Based Targets, meaning we are one step away from reaching our target.

By encouraging our suppliers to decarbonise their operations and products, we will create a “ripple effect” in the market. This is where we can have a significant impact in accelerating the global transition to the Net Zero economy.

^{*See our Net Zero disclosures.}

In our eight offices, 95% of our purchased electricity comes from renewable sources. Our main office, Crystal Park, has been 100% powered by renewable electricity since 2011. The slight decrease compared to last year is due to the expansion of our satellite offices with the opening of a new Windhof location, where we don't control the source of renewable emissions. Discussion with the landlords is planned to understand — and if needed, to influence — their choice of energy.

^{*See our Net Zero disclosures.}

We recognise the importance of actively reducing the climate impact of our own operational footprint now. That is why, to mitigate our impact today and in the future, we will continue to support high-quality independently verified carbon reduction and removal projects.

Since 2022, we have been purchasing credits through a centralised carbon credit procurement service provided by the PwC Network. Since this year, we have offset 100% of our emissions through our participation in the LEAF coalition (Lowering Emissions through Accelerating Forest finance). 

In recent years we offset:

• 2,370 tonnes CO2 in FY22 with Natural Capital Partners, and
• 4,173 tonnes CO2 in FY23 with EcoAct 
• 3,887 tonnes CO2 in FY24 with LEAF

In both FY23 and FY24, we offset 1.4 times more than the emissions we produced, as the offsets were calculated based on initial estimates and we succeeded in issuing less tco2.

^{*See our Net Zero disclosures.}