Over ten years ago, we were recognised for our environmental initiatives, achieving carbon neutral status at the Inaugural Green Awards. Since then, we have moved all our energy use to renewable sources. Commenting on our success in reducing our environmental impact, KPMG’s Managing Partner, Shaun Murphy, cites the example of commuting habits as evidence of the firm’s commitment: “In 2009, we were the first organisation in Ireland to launch a sustainable travel website and we have been actively looking at sustainable modes of transport for both commuting and business travel.” The results are impressive. We work with Natural Capital Partners to measure our carbon footprint and to select suitable off-set projects. Since 2010, we have delivered a 16 percent reduction in our gross emissions.

KPMG’s Head of Corporate Citizenship & Diversity, Karina Howley, says: “This achievement has in part come about via our sustainable travel website, the promotion of the ‘bike to work’ scheme, switching our electricity requirements to renewables and recycling. In particular, we promote alternatives to car use and have used Vipre – a consultancy to help us assess our commuting habits.”

In addition to the workplace, we have also supported initiatives such as the Native Woodland Trust Trees for Schools Programme. This initiative helped make a positive impact on the environment by planting over 29,000 native Irish species in almost 1,000 schools throughout Ireland.

Our green facts:

• Our Dublin offices have exceptionally low rates of car travel – only 11 percent of all Dublin staff travel to work by car alone.
• 89 percent of staff travel to work by bus, car-share, train, on foot, or by bicycle.
• We have been carbon neutral since 2007 and have seen a 38 percent reduction in carbon emissions as of 2016.
• Our carbon emissions per employee is 2.67 tonnes, which is extremely low compared to other professional services firms who average 5.25 tonnes per employee.
• We are committed to saving paper and use recycled paper in all printers/fax machines and all headed paper/ stationery is also made using recycled paper. In 2016 we recycled over 301,732kg of waste.
• All KPMG offices are fitted with comprehensive recycling facilities with separate containers for recycling, general waste, and compostable materials.
• We are phasing out the use of disposable cups and providing our employees with reusable cups and water bottles to reduce waste.

We also support international projects to sustain our carbon neutral status, such as the Kenya Improved Cookstoves Project.

The Kenya Improved Cookstoves project aims to tackle key development issues by building sustainable supply chains for the provision of these efficient cooking products. As a Gold Standard project, the objective is to serve the most vulnerable communities across Kenya, tackling health issues of traditional cookstoves, reducing dependence on non-renewable biomass sources, while promoting financial security and female empowerment.

Shaun Murphy notes: “We’re proud to play our part in the global effort to reduce carbon emissions and to contribute in a positive way to protecting our environment. Our vision is one that sees KPMG as the clear choice professional services firm in Ireland. That requires us to be, amongst other things, respectful of our surroundings and the environment in which we operate. Our firm is built on a foundation of trust and integrity and we are fully committed to ensuring that we provide the highest quality services to our clients in the most sustainable way possible.”