In a step toward reaffirming its commitment to the United Nations (UN) Global Compact Principles and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), KPMG published the 2022 update of the KPMG: Our Impact Plan. This publication is the sophomore edition of the KPMG: Our Impact Plan report first published in 2021.
The report charts out the progress the organization has made with respect to its environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments against the World Economic Forum (WEF) International Business Council (IBC) metrics. The KPMG: Our Impact Plan 2022 update highlights how the firm is navigating toward becoming a better business and is supporting stakeholders in their ESG journey, across four categories — planet, people, prosperity and governance.
Speaking about the report, Dr. Rasheed Al-Qenae, Managing Partner, KPMG in Kuwait said, “It is the people who form the very core of our business, which is why it is one of the key areas of our focus. We are working to bring about a positive change and are doing the bit necessary to ensure a sustainable future for the people, stakeholders and the communities we operate in. The KPMG: Our Impact Plan is a representation of the values imbibed in the global organization and serves as a guideline to help KPMG track whether its clients are aligned to their ESG journeys or not.”
We have mentioned some of the key highlights below:
Planet
The need for sustainable and equitable practices are soaring, calling for businesses, governments and the society as a whole to adopt them. The organization is targeting a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030, remaining committed to its goal of 1.5°C Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Renewable energy usage in the organization also hiked to about 74% — compared to 56% in 2020. KPMG also published its first Net Zero Readiness Index to analyze other countries’ progress and abilities in terms of achieving net-zero by 2050.
People
KPMG created and introduced its Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (IDE) Collective Action Plan across the global organization. At present, almost one-third of the staff in KPMG Kuwait is female. This number stands at 48.4% for the global organization. Additionally, KPMG is devoted to ensuring that there is firm-wide compliance of its human rights commitments and is putting together a set of guidelines to facilitate the same.
Prosperity
In 2021, the global organization had announced a multibillion-dollar investment to embed ESG into its framework. KPMG is laser-focused on the ESG agenda and plans on investing US$1.5 billion in the three-year horizon — a portion of which will be utilized in making ESG hubs and accelerators to promote innovation and investment in the emerging markets. Efforts are also being made to further improve the organization’s tools and offerings to help boost clients in their ESG journey. In addition, the firm’s workforce surpassed 236,000, growing 6.1% y-o-y, and is being trained to drive a positive change. Furthermore, KPMG has invested about US$125 million globally in community initiatives, as compared to the US$124 million in 2020, and volunteered over 81,000 hours through pro bono work. In line with this, KPMG Kuwait’s CSR Committee, in collaboration with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other major organizations, conducted several activities in the fields of education and charity, among others. The committee is also working toward raising awareness around social and volunteering work to drive a positive change in the community. The global organization is on the trajectory of its US$5 billion investment directed toward technology, people and innovation, and is entering the third year of that commitment. KPMG is continuously working closely with key organizations to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), in addition to working with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to strengthen the economic capabilities of about 10 million disadvantaged young people and has also procured a strategy to do so by 2030.
Governance
KPMG played a key role in formulating the IBC metrics for ESG reporting, working alongside WEF. This is a testament to the firm’s use of its expertise to shape the sustainable business’ future. In addition, the organization has taken up roles at the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Taskforce for Nature-related Disclosures (TNFD). As part of the wider role that it must play with regard to sustainability matters, KPMG will continue to support the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, as it is responsible for creating and publishing ESG reporting standards that its clients use to fulfill the requirements of the ever-evolving nature of reporting. In addition, the organization published its first ever Modern Slavery Statement, and all the Global Board members have completed the training on KPMG’s Code of Conduct and tax policies and procedures.
In conclusion, Karen Watts, Partner — Risk, KPMG in Kuwait said, “To safeguard the planet and preserve the quality of life from the dangers of existing and emerging threats, it is important that businesses, governments and communities come together to take up that collective responsibility. We are continually striving to transform responsibly on an organization level, assessing our supply chains and, at the same time, supporting other organizations in the ESG endeavors — all in the interest of leaving a safe, habitable planet for the future generations.”
