2021 SEA Impact Report
Deloitte’s global climate initiative, WorldClimate, is our commitment to making the world a more equitable and sustainable place.
It recognises that while the effects of climate change are significant, progress is possible if we act collectively. It is vital that we all – in business and society – take urgent and immediate action.
Celebrating SEA Climate Month 2021: Making an impact, one action at a time
Through our WorldClimate initiative, we encourage responsible choices within our organisation and beyond, based on a three-pronged approach – actions we take, steps we inspire our people to take and actions we take with our alliance partners.
As part of this approach, Deloitte SEA launched Climate Month, a four-week focus on the environment. We chose April 2021 as our focus, in conjunction with the worldwide Earth Day and the official global launch of our new WorldClimate website.
Visit our WorldClimate website to find out how we can protect our planet and people, together.
Climate impact quiz
Across SEA, Climate Month kicked off with a drive to get as many people as possible to fill in a climate impact assessment in the form of a quiz. Completing this impact assessment gives the public an immediate snapshot of their environmental impacts across four areas: travel, food, home and purchasing.
Armed with that insight, they can then draw on WorldClimate’s action lists and resources to work out the next steps needed to adjust behaviours, and instigate ongoing climate conversations. In SEA, approximately 200 people have completed the quiz.
Collaboration with Zero Waste SG
We heard from an expert from Singapore-based charity and non-governmental organisation (NGO) Zero Waste SG on the importance of individual action in combatting climate change.
We also discussed how connecting with climate-related NGOs can accelerate system-level change. We ended by encouraging our people to consider reaching out to NGOs in their area to find out how they can get involved.
Driving sustainability and climate change conversations internally
In September 2021, Deloitte rolled out a new climate learning programme for all 330,000 of our people worldwide. A pioneering initiative among major global organisations, the programme aims to inform, challenge and inspire our people to learn about the impacts of climate change and empower them to confidently navigate their contribution to addressing climate change. That way, we can have a positive impact on the choices they make at home.
In addition, APTV, an internal TV news channel, created for Deloitte’s 70,000 people across the Asia Pacific region, featured a series of case studies from SEA on how we are helping to enable our client’s to tackle the complex problems climate change presents, using innovative technologies, approaches and digital solutions.
Deloitte connects women leaders in Asia Pacific through a focus on sustainability
Our SheXO Program underlines Deloitte’s commitment to supporting the personal and professional development of established, emerging and aspiring women leaders. In November 2020, Deloitte Singapore hosted a virtual session on sustainability transformation in Asia Pacific as part of a SheXO series of virtual meet-ups.
During the session, experts from our Center for the Edge at Deloitte Asia Pacific pointed out that the Asia Pacific region is more vulnerable than any other in the world to sustainability risks. That is because climate change has exacerbated extreme weather events here, intensifying heatwaves, floods and droughts.
As the speakers explained, these types of climatic issues can result in significant business disruption and extra costs, so businesses in Asia Pacific should seek to accelerate sustainability transformation programmes.
For more information on this topic, download Deloitte SEA’s new sustainability report.
Championing environmental change and inspiring community activism in Thailand
Deloitte Thailand has teamed up with leading social enterprise Environmental Education Centre Thailand (EEC Thailand) to create a series of educational programmes that will raise public awareness of environmental issues.
Volunteers who took part in the Kod Pa Kod Talay initiative worked with leading sustainability experts, as well as marginalised communities, inspiring environmental consciousness and activism.
Initially conceived as a series of activities across five locations in Thailand, where our people would engage with up to 2,000 local students and community members per location, the plan had to change when COVID-19 struck and lockdowns commenced.
Undeterred, the team changed formats and created a series of five video documentaries instead. The documentaries address a wide range of issues, including pollution in Bangkok, biodiversity loss caused by forest fires in Thailand’s northern region of Chiang Mai, and how the country’s fruit capital, Chantaburi, is being adversely affected by climate change. The team also focused on the ecologically diverse forests of Hala-Bala, a wildlife sanctuary in southern Thailand dubbed ‘the Amazon of ASEAN’.