EY announces achievement of carbon negative status

EY is one of the first professional service organizations to achieve carbon negativity, says carbon neutrality isn’t enough

EY becomes carbon negative by reducing absolute emissions and offsetting and removing more carbon than it emits

21 OCTOBER 2021. The EY organization has become carbon negative, a major and significant step toward achieving the EY carbon ambition of becoming net zero by 2025. Becoming carbon negative means the EY organization is now reducing its total emissions and offsetting and removing more carbon than it emits.

To achieve this carbon ambition, the EY organization has set an aggressive target to significantly reduce its emissions by 40% by 2025 through seven key actions. This represents one of the most ambitious decarbonization plans not just in professional services, but across global industry.  There has been a continued EY investment in a carbon offset portfolio.

Carmine Di Sibio, EY Global Chairman and CEO, says:

“I am proud that EY is leading the way in sustainable business by achieving carbon negative status. Businesses need to take the lead and the reality is that carbon neutrality simply isn’t enough if we are to deliver a sustainable planet for future generations. Today’s announcement will make a real difference as the world transitions toward a low-carbon future and EY will continue to take actions that create long-term value for EY people, clients and communities around the globe.”

A continued reduction in EY absolute emissions

EY global FY21 emissions (394k tons of CO2e) reduced by 60% compared to FY20 (976k tons of CO2e), achieved through a significant reduction in business travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing delivery of the EY seven-point carbon action plan. This also represents a 71% decrease from the 1,354k tons of CO2e emitted in the FY19 baseline year.

As the EY organization resumes business travel and returns to offices and clients, EY teams will continue to keep emissions below the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)-validated 1.5°C pathway in FY22 and beyond. EY will remain carbon negative as it works toward net zero in 2025.

Investment in a carbon offset portfolio

The EY organization has invested in a carbon offset portfolio with South Pole, a leading global climate solutions provider, which includes multiple projects that offset or remove carbon through reforestation, regenerative agriculture, biochar and forest conservation. Six new projects, invested in through South Pole, including the QianBei Afforestation Project in China, contribute to removing or offsetting a total of 528k tons of CO2e, meaning the EY organization is removing an additional 34% of the EY FY21 carbon footprint, making EY carbon negative.

Steve Varley, EY Global Vice Chair – Sustainability, says:

“As governments work to forge greater consensus on action and keeping 1.5C alive, the critical role of business is becoming more urgent. After EY became carbon neutral in 2020, the organization looked at the latest climate data and decided it could, and should, do more. The reality is that becoming carbon neutral is a good first step but it isn’t enough on its own, and those – like EY – who have the ability to go further and faster must do so now. EY is proud to be one of those organizations setting the standard on carbon negativity and we urge others to do the same.”

Hywel Ball, EY’s UK Chair comments:

“Transitioning to a more sustainable and low carbon economy will take a collective effort from every corner of the business community. Innovative thinking, transformational business models and rapid action are what’s needed to fast track the UK to a more sustainable future.

“Today’s announcement underscores our commitment to tackling climate change and building sustainable, purpose-led growth. At the end of last year we also announced a 10-year zero carbon Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), which supports the building of a new solar power station project in Norfolk. This will ensure that most of the electricity EY uses in the UK continues to be zero carbon, while generating a significant surplus of renewable energy that will be fed back into the grid. We have also signed up to a Green Pensions Charter to ensure that EY pensions are invested sustainably.

“As well as making huge strides in our own business, we are also committed to supporting our clients as they transition to a low carbon world, by investing in a range of sustainable services supported by industry-leading talent. We’ve also created the Climate Business Forum to bring together 11 of the UK’s largest companies and 21 young students, entrepreneurs, and professionals to develop recommendations that will help businesses reduce their impact on the environment.”

By achieving carbon negative status, the EY organization demonstrates a commitment toward accelerated climate action and empowering its people to serve EY clients as they also seek to decarbonize.

Alongside the work the organization is undertaking to become more sustainable, EY teams have developed a new set of global sustainability services for EY clients aimed at helping them on their own sustainability journeys. The solutions are focused on value-led sustainability, helping EY clients capture the business opportunities from sustainability and decarbonization, while also protecting and creating value. This follows the approach EY teams have taken to achieve the EY carbon negative ambition.

Today’s announcement follows a number of actions the EY organization has taken to reduce the organization’s environmental impact and drive sustainable growth. These include two initiatives in collaboration with HRH The Prince of Wales’s Sustainable Markets Initiative; The S30, a group of 30 of the world’s leading C-suite sustainability leaders focused on accelerating business action on sustainability and joining the “Terra Carta” – a charter that puts sustainability at the heart of the private sector. The EY organization has also joined the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, which is committed to shifting financial flows towards nature-positive outcomes.

The EY organization also recently reported for the first time against the WEF-IBC stakeholder capitalism metrics – a set of 21 ESG disclosures, against which companies and organizations can report, spanning four key areas; Principles of Governance, Planet, People and Prosperity aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.