Deloitte to provide climate education scheme to all employees globally

The scheme will roll out over the next six months and be delivered online

The ‘Big Four’ accountancy firm claims it is the largest organisation in the world to bring climate-focussed training to all of its staff.

The training programme is centred around what Deloitte and WWF have called ‘climate literacy’. Staff will be taught about the science behind global temperature increase and global weather patterns, the key drivers of the climate crisis, the likely impacts in the coming decades and the solutions needed from nations and businesses.

Also included will be personal testimonials from Deloitte employees already working on climate initiatives, including members of the sustainability team and C-suite, as well as those leading existing local or regional staff engagement schemes.

Within six months, all Deloitte staff will be offered the opportunity to begin the training programme. With the company’s global scale in mind and with remote working requirements or advice still in place in many locations, all training will be delivered digitally.

Deloitte Global’s chief executive Punit Renjen said: “To address climate change, we need to understand it. Through dedicated learning, we can help make the right choices necessary to combat the crisis.

“Deloitte’s climate learning programme is a powerful tool to unlock the climate ambition of our most valuable asset and superpower – our people.”

WWF’s president and chief executive Carter Roberts added: “Leading companies today are not only setting science-based targets to slash emissions and drive progress through their supply chains. They’re also engaging their customers and employees to make smarter choices and build momentum for broader societal progress. This new initiative from Deloitte taps into that trend and aims to bring it to scale.”

The announcement from Deloitte comes after the company updated its sustainability strategy last autumn. Its new strategy, called ‘WorldClimate’, is headlined by a commitment for the business to reach net-zero across Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (power-related) emissions by 2030. On Scope 3 (indirect) emissions, the ambition is to have two-thirds of suppliers in terms of emissions footprint developing approved science-based climate targets by 2025.

Since Deloitte published the WorldClimate strategy, it has committed to 100% renewable energy procurement through The Climate Group’s RE100 initiative and a 100% electric and hybrid fleet through its EV100 initiative. It has also launched a string of employee-facing communication tools including a climate impact quiz and a series of videos.

Foster Denovo

In related news, financial advisory firm Foster Denovo has announced plans to pilot a new workplace scheme designed to help employees consider the environmental impact of their professional decisions and personal lifestyles.

The scheme is called ‘100 Ways in 100 Days’ and has been developed by Sue Skeats. This is the first time it will be trialled in a workplace of this size; Foster Denovo has more than 200 employees.

is predicated on the assumption that most people do not respond well to immediate, large changes to their day-to-day life, or to negative rhetoric. As such, the programme encourages positive actions for changing small habits and making lasting change.

Foster Denovo is currently running a condensed programme, consisting of 20 actions, that will run until the end of August. Actions include switching to search engine Ecosia, which plants trees for each use; slowing down fashion consumption and making lunch in a reusable container. They will be promoted to employees in multimedia formats.

“Over the last few years we have been challenging ourselves on how we can ensure we are embedding sustainability across our entire business – asking how and where can we do better to ensure we’re contributing to the transition to a net-zero carbon world,” Foster Denovo’s chief operating officer Helen Lovett said.

“We wanted to empower our people with the knowledge and awareness of what we can all do at an individual level, as well as at a corporate level. 

“We were therefore instantly attracted to [Skeats’] proposition. She has a clear vision of what she wants to achieve; to help people live more sustainably and help make it second nature. She has created something that doesn’t nag or punish people, but brings them together and galvanises them to start making a sea-change in their habits.”

Employee engagement seems to be a key short-term priority for many of the UK’s sustainability professionals. Of the 161 professionals who responded to edie’s recent Net-Zero Business Barometer survey, more than two-thirds (67%) said they class staff behaviour change initiatives as either ‘very important’ or ‘extremely important’ to invest in within the next 12 months. You can read the results of the survey in full in our free-to-download report, sponsored by Inspired Energy.

Sarah George