Sustainability

Case studies

Advancing environmental sustainability

Leading a green transformation

Deloitte promotes sustainability efforts across its global network and helps clients transition to sustainable business models and practices that will deliver long-term financial growth.

Deloitte’s approach to sustainability is twofold: initiatives we champion across our global network to reduce the ecological impact of approximately 210,000 people; and work we do with clients to advance sustainability practices that will help deliver long-term financial growth.

Deloitte’s environmental impact is largely through the travel and office needs of a global network of businesses. In FY2014, absolute greenhouse gas emissions remained essentially constant, even though headcount grew by almost 4 percent. This result corresponds to a 6 percent decrease in carbon intensity per fulltime equivalent (FTE) from FY2013. Demonstrating improved eco-efficiency for the services member firms deliver, carbon intensity per dollar of revenue, an indicator that had been relatively constant for the past three years, dropped by 7 percent in FY2014.

As part of our internal network-wide initiatives we have expanded engagement with Deloitte professionals in continual learning on sustainability priorities and practices through monthly newsletters, webinars and other communications tools, for example, our sustainability social media engagement grew by more than 200 percent in the last year.

Other examples of initiatives taken by Deloitte member firms include:

  • Deloitte UK’s Switzerland offices launched the "Our Green Journey" program focused on delivering environmental excellence. The Zurich office also collaborated with its landlord to develop one of the greenest buildings in Switzerland, which recently gained a LEED Platinum award. The Switzerland offices have also been certified to ISO14001, the preeminent environmental management standard. During the coming year, the Swiss offices are planning a series of green initiatives, from improved recycling facilities and upgraded lighting systems, to rolling out secure printing that requires in-person activation.
  • Two years into its second five-year plan to reduce greenhouse gasses by 25 percent, Deloitte China has combined infrastructure management, policy enhancement, and employee engagement to achieve a 9 percent intensity reduction. Initiatives include an LED lighting retrofit that has reduced both energy costs and air pollution from electricity generation. The firm introduced a vendor assessment survey to support its Green Procurement Standard, and a low-carbon challenge campaign using social media to engage employees.
  • Deloitte Brazil created a sustainability program called "SIGA" (Integrated System of Management and Action), through which it can consistently address and discuss issues related to social responsibility, environment, health and safety, and quality of processes in order to disseminate principles and train its professionals.
  • The Deloitte Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member firm, in order to reduce its carbon footprint, introduced its ‘Green Bike program’ this year, which allows its employees to borrow bicycles from the firm to travel to and from work instead of driving.
Advancing environmental sustainability

Member firms also work vigorously to advance sustainability among their clients. Deloitte member firms have more than 800 sustainability specialists helping clients transition to sustainable business models and practices that will deliver top- and bottom-line financial growth for the long term. Examples of their efforts include:

Deloitte United States – WaterCredit microfinance programs

Water.org is a not-for-profit organization that provides access to safe water and sanitation to hundreds of communities in Africa, South Asia, and Central America. Its WaterCredit program uses microfinance tools to connect financial institutions with communities and individuals in developing countries in need of safe water and toilets. To help make the case for WaterCredit expansion by providing solid evidence to external parties and microfinance institutions, Water.org selected Deloitte U.S. to help assess the profitability and viability of WaterCredit microfinance programs and tools in India. Demonstrating the long-term viability of WaterCredit is critical to the continued adoption and impact of the program to transform more lives with safe water.

Deloitte United States – Managing marble waste

Marble is one of the West Bank’s leading exports, but the stone-cutting process creates slurry, a problematic mixture of water, stone fragments, dust, and metal particulates. For more than a decade, companies discarded the contaminant into municipal wastewater, creating what locals called “a milky river.” The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) saw a need for urgent action. Deloitte U.S. was engaged, with funding from USAID, to help create short- and long-term sustainable environmental solutions. Within a month, the team put a viable waste haulage and disposal program in place with plans for more permanent solutions to support waste reduction and reuse. As a result, more than 15,000 cubic meters of slurry is redirected every month to cover waste in municipal landfills, reducing odor; and to fill abandoned quarries, improving community safety.

Deloitte United States – Creating "smart communities"

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which provides electricity for nine million people in parts of seven states, needed help deciding how to efficiently use $20 million to deliver low-income energy makeovers and smart energy technologies to consumers. The Deloitte U.S. firm performed a national study of best practices to identify the key components of successful programs and the different business models used to deliver programs. With this information, Deloitte U.S. helped the TVA develop an innovative project that promises to improve consumer’s lives, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and serve as a model to other utilities, companies, and not-for-profits nationwide.

Deloitte United States – Water Leadership Group

DTTL was a founding member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in 1995 and Deloitte professionals continue to participate in several council initiatives. Deloitte U.S. is particularly active in WBCSD's Water Leadership Group, which sets strategic direction, provides quality assurance on content of outputs, approves publications, and supports advocacy. Deloitte U.S. was engaged recently by the council to develop the Guiding Principles and Self-Assessment Tool supporting the WBCSD Pledge for access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene at the workplace.

Deloitte France – Driving European waste management policy

In 2014, BIO by Deloitte, Deloitte France’s Center for Innovation and Excellence in Sustainability Services, published a report on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the EU-28. The report – which includes a general overview of EPR policies in Europe, detailed case studies, and a set of guiding principles for the further development and implementation of EPR schemes – is expected to impact the development of resource efficiency in Europe for years to come. BIO has been a key player in the development, implementation, and assessment of the European Union’s environmental policies through numerous service assignments with the European Commission during the past 20 years.

Deloitte France – Transitioning to a circular economy

BIO by Deloitte in France is currently participating in two key studies on circular economy for the European Commission and the French Environmental Agency which will help pave the way for this crucial paradigm shift. Deloitte France also organized “New business models for a Circular Economy,” a May 2014 Green Week event that provided constructive insights into how companies see the transition towards a circular economy and the reduction in resource consumption and waste. The conference, which attracted more than 110 participants, helped strengthen Deloitte Frances leading position in assisting public authorities and private companies in the transformation of current linear production and consumption models.

Deloitte Netherlands – GRI digital reporting

Deloitte Netherlands has been involved in the development of the GRI XBRL Taxonomy to promote digital sustainability reporting since 2012. Deloitte Netherlands and GRI currently are promoting the "GRI XBRL Reports Program" to encourage GRI reporters to publish their sustainability reports digitally using the GRI Taxonomy. Publication of a digital GRI XBRL report provides stakeholders with easier and faster access to a company’s nonfinancial information. It also improves the accuracy of the data used by investors and analysts and improves the integrity and consistency between a company’s various reports to different stakeholders. The World Bank is among the first group of companies participating in this program. Deloitte Netherlands is supporting the World Bank in creating its FY2014 G4 XBRL Report using the GRI Taxonomy (including the Financial Services Sector Supplement).

Deloitte Belgium – BASF-Deloitte-Elia Chair on Sustainability

The BASF-Deloitte-Elia Chair on Sustainability, a joint project between Antwerp Management School and the University of Antwerp’s Faculty of Applied Economics, aims to inspire embedded corporate responsibility policies throughout the value chain and in every industry. Through awareness building, research activities, and teaching, this collaboration between academics and business, including Deloitte Belgium, has a mission to shape future leaders and achieve thought leadership on sustainability.

Deloitte Belgium – Educating a university

During the past two years, Deloitte Belgium sustainability professionals have been working with the Université Catholique de Louvain to offer an external perspective on sustainability methodologies and help the University structure its own approach. After collaborating to define a common sustainability vision and management framework, Deloitte Belgium’s practitioners benchmarked against a dozen universities’ sustainability programs. Using what they learned, the Deloitte Belgium team helped the University build a tool to support the development of its sustainability strategy and helped its leaders define their goals and objectives, roles and responsibilities, and key actions in terms of sustainability.

Deloitte Denmark – Developing CSO/business relationships

Earlier this year, Deloitte Denmark Sustainability was chosen to work with the Danish Red Cross on a publicly funded project to develop a new tools for how strengthen the alliances between Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and businesses. The tools will focus on CSOs’ need for local anchorage and long term sustainability while helping to ensure businesses’ need for direct engagement and short-term, quantifiable results. The goal is to generate value for the businesses, the CSOs, and the potential beneficiaries of the alliances.

In this report, the terms Deloitte, our, we, and us are used to refer to the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) network of member firms or to one or more DTTL member firms. See additional information.

[caption] Photo at left: Deloitte Belgium is driving innovation the green way and looking into environmentally conscious solutions to redefine urban mobility.

Full details of Deloitte’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions can be found in the Performance Table. In-depth disclosure of our greenhouse gas emissions, as well as our risks and opportunities related to climate change, can be found in Deloitte’s 2014 CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) Climate Change and Supply Chain submissions. 

Environment - Greenhouse gas emissions

Deloitte named a global leader in Sustainable Technology Services by Verdantix

Source: Green Quadrant® Sustainable Technology Services (Global), March 2013, Verdantix Ltd © 2007-2013. Reproduction Prohibited.

Deloitte U.S. named a leader in Sustainability Consulting in the U.S. by Verdantix

Source: Green Quadrant® Sustainability Consulting (US) 2013, May 2013, Verdantix Ltd© 2007-2013. Reproduction Prohibited.

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