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SUSTAINABILITY

We believe every business must be a sustainable business

We help our clients advance their environmental, social and governance goals by connecting sustainability to their transformations; operate our business with a strong commitment to the environment, ethics and human rights; and work to create value in communities around the world.

100%

renewable electricity across our offices, achieving our goal

82%

of our key suppliers* have disclosed emissions targets

4.3M

people equipped with skills toward employment or entrepreneurship

*Key suppliers are defined as vendors are represent a significant portion of our 2019 Scope 3 emissions.

Environment

We began to measure and disclose our environmental impact in 2007, and we continue to hold ourselves accountable to clear, measurable goals that are aligned with climate science.

Our external commitments

In 2020, we signed the UN Global Compact Business Ambition for 1.5°C Pledge, joining leading companies in pledging to do our part to keep global warming below 1.5° Celsius, in alignment with the Paris Agreement and the criteria and recommendations of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

We are continuing to work toward our goal of net-zero emissions by 2025 by first focusing on reductions across our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and then removing any remaining emissions through nature-based carbon removal projects.

We are also establishing new goals to align with the SBTi’s criteria, guidance and recommendations for setting science-based net-zero targets.

New science-based target for 2030

  • In October 2023, we received approval from SBTi for our new, near-term target aligned to 2030, which we will begin reporting against next year. And, in fiscal 2024 we plan to set a new long-term science-based target.
  • Our new 2030 target is to:
    -     Reduce our absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 80% from our fiscal year 2019 base year.
    -     Reduce our Scope 3 GHG emissions per unit of revenue 55% from our fiscal year 2019 base year.

Our environment goals

Our environment goals span three areas:

Climate change mitigation

reduction and removal

Climate change adaptation

planning for water risk

Moving toward zero waste

e-waste, furniture and single-use plastics

Climate change mitigation: reduction

Carbon reduction

We are focusing first on actual reductions across our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Our most significant aspects relate to indirect emissions from Scope 2 electricity usage in our locations and Scope 3 emissions from business travel and purchased goods and services.

Renewable electricity

  • We achieved our goal of 100% renewable electricity in 2023
  • We plan to maintain 100% renewable electricity for our offices on an annual basis through continued purchase of renewable electricity contracts
  • Continuing to drive energy efficiency by expanding our use of smart meters which provide benefits including increased speed of data collection and analytic insights to inform our energy management decisions

Responsible travel

  • We continue to use technology to facilitate more cost- and carbon-efficient delivery for our clients and our business
  • We have implemented an internal carbon price on travel to encourage climate-smart travel decisions
  • We are one of the largest enterprise users of Microsoft Teams in the world—using more than 19 billion minutes of audio and more than 2 billion minutes of video calls in fiscal 2023—hosted on Microsoft Azure Cloud and powered with renewable energy
  • We have developed analytics and reporting focused on our business travel emissions so that we can share emissions data with our clients as part of our delivery activities. When travel is necessary, we are equipping our people to make climate-smart travel decisions.

We use analytics and reporting to help travelers and business runners estimate future travel or use less carbon-intensive modes of travel. This includes measuring the carbon savings by switching from air to less carbon-intensive rail travel, where practical, and encouraging our people to do so.

Our climate-smart travel toolkit shares policies, resources, ideas and templates to support project teams in their carbon reduction journey.

An aviation carbon calculator highlights actual emissions differences between flights to inform booking decisions.

Enabling low carbon client delivery

  • Just as we engage with our key suppliers to understand how their actions affect our emissions, our clients engage with us to understand our impact on their emissions
  • We have developed detailed analytics focused on our business travel emissions. This enables us to share highly accurate emissions data with our clients

Responsible buying

  • Our suppliers contribute to our own Scope 3 emissions. We expect them to make sustainability a priority and provide updates on their environmental initiatives, goals and impact
  • Our goal is that 90% of our key suppliers* disclose their environmental targets and actions being taken to reduce emissions by 2025. 82% of our key suppliers have disclosed targets. 93% have disclosed actions to reduce emissions

*Key suppliers are defined as vendors that represent a significant portion of our 2019 Scope 3 emissions.

Green IT

  • Our global IT organization takes a cloud-first and sustainability-focused approach to the way we operate, develop new applications, and innovate to run our business
  • With our journey to cloud complete, we are focused on new, more sustainable capabilities from cloud providers while further embedding our Green IT practices into our operations
  • We created a CO2 calculator enabling us to manage energy consumption, lower energy usage, and estimate carbon emissions related to our public cloud energy consumption
A table showing carbon emissions by scoope for FY21, Fy22, and FY23. Scope 3 emissions are significantly higher than scope 1 and 2 combined. Total emissions have decreased from FY21 to FY23.
A table showing carbon emissions by scoope for FY21, Fy22, and FY23. Scope 3 emissions are significantly higher than scope 1 and 2 combined. Total emissions have decreased from FY21 to FY23.
A bar chart titled "Carbon Emissions by Scope" shows emissions over three years (2021-2023). Scope 3 emissions are consistently the largest, with a slight decrease from 2021 to 202 but increasing again in 2023. Scope 1 and 2 emissions remain relatively small and consistent across the three years.
A bar chart titled "Carbon Emissions by Scope" shows emissions over three years (2021-2023). Scope 3 emissions are consistently the largest, with a slight decrease from 2021 to 202 but increasing again in 2023. Scope 1 and 2 emissions remain relatively small and consistent across the three years.
A table depicting Carbon Emissions by Source in Fiscal Years 2021, 2022, and 2023, measured in metric tons CO2. It's broken down into Scope 1 & 2 emissions, largely from leased cars and other sources, and Scope 3 emissions which are significantly larger and primarily stem from purchased goods and services and business travel.
A table depicting Carbon Emissions by Source in Fiscal Years 2021, 2022, and 2023, measured in metric tons CO2. It's broken down into Scope 1 & 2 emissions, largely from leased cars and other sources, and Scope 3 emissions which are significantly larger and primarily stem from purchased goods and services and business travel.
  1. In fiscal 2023, we elected to present Fuel and Energy-related activities (FERA) as part of our reported carbon emissions and enhanced our methodology for calculating Scope 3 emissions to include well-to-tank emissions for personal car travel and taxi under Business Travel and Employee Commuting. Prior periods have been revised to reflect these changes. Emissions related to Office Electricity reflect a market-based accounting approach which includes the impact of renewable electricity contracts and residual mix factors. Accenture's carbon emissions for fiscal 2023 have been reviewed by an independent third-party accountant. Refer to the Independent Accountants' Review Report for more information.
  2. In fiscal 2023, we changed the presentation for Scope 3 emissions to separately report emissions from Capital Goods, which were previously included in Purchased Goods & Services. Prior periods have been revised to reflect this change.
A data table showing carbon emissions by region for fiscal years 2021, 2022 and 2023. The data shows that North America produced the most carbon emissions in all three years.
A data table showing carbon emissions by region for fiscal years 2021, 2022 and 2023. The data shows that North America produced the most carbon emissions in all three years.
A bar chart showing office energy use from 2021 to 2023. In 2021, most of the energy came from non-renewable sources. By 2023, almost all energy used was renewable.
A bar chart showing office energy use from 2021 to 2023. In 2021, most of the energy came from non-renewable sources. By 2023, almost all energy used was renewable.
A bar chart showing office energy use from 2021 to 2023. In 2021. most of the energy came from non-renewable sources. By 2023, almost all energy used was renewable.
A bar chart showing office energy use from 2021 to 2023. In 2021. most of the energy came from non-renewable sources. By 2023, almost all energy used was renewable.

Climate change mitigation: removal

Carbon removal

To address remaining emissions, we are investing in nature-based carbon removal solutions.

Our nature-based carbon removal solutions are generally expected to reforest land, improve biodiversity, make agriculture more sustainable, and help create green jobs—all while removing CO2 from the atmosphere.

Climate change adaptation: planning for water risk

To safeguard our people and operations, by the end of 2025 we are developing water resiliency action plans to reduce the impact of climate-related flooding, drought and water scarcity on our business and our people in high-risk areas. We proactively analyze our water risk using the World Resources Institute Aqueduct tool, and we also measure, monitor and report water use for locations in high-risk areas.

While we do not have water-intensive operations, we continue to minimize our use of water wherever feasible.

Moving toward zero waste

We have committed to:

Reuse or recycle 100% of our e-waste, such as computers and servers, as well as reusing or recycling all our office furniture, by the end of 2025.

-     We expanded our digital asset tracking to include monitors, servers and uninterruptible power supply devices in addition to computers and workstations.

-     We reused or recycled nearly 100% of our e-waste relating to these items.

Circular furniture. Our asset tracking system also includes our furniture assets. We made enhancements to the system and processes to improve tracking and reporting capabilities, allowing us to continue to refine our methods of landfill avoidance.

Eliminate single-use plastics in our locations. During fiscal 2023, we eliminated single-use plastics in our office locations by purchasing reusable and plastic-free items.

Supporting a low-carbon future

To unlock shared value for business and society, we are supporting the development of solutions that aim to help create a low-carbon future.

Direct air capture

We are helping support development of carbon dioxide removal technology using direct air capture (DAC) with Climeworks and 1PointFive.

We contributed to the design of the first-ever DAC plant, which Climeworks opened in Iceland in 2017.

We have also engaged Climeworks to explore how its innovative technology-based carbon dioxide removal solution may be used to help advance our environmental commitments.

Sustainable aviation fuel

To help facilitate the growth of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supply and demand, we are collaborating with cross-industry ecosystem partners.

  • We are a signatory of the World Economic Forum’s Clean Skies for Tomorrow sustainable aviation fuel pledge, which includes an aviation industry goal of flying on 10% SAF by 2030.
  • We are a member of United Airlines’ Eco-Skies Alliance of corporate SAF buyers and are committed to purchasing SAF only from socially and ethically beneficial sources.
  • In collaboration with Shell, American Express Global Business Travel and the Energy Web Foundation, we launched Avelia, a leading blockchain-powered book-and-claim solution that securely allocates the environmental attributes of SAF. With Avelia, airlines and business customers can simultaneously reduce emissions while allowing transparency of attribute allocation to avoid issues such as double counting. At launch, the platform offered an estimated one million gallons of SAF—enough to power almost 15,000 individual business traveler flights from London to New York. We are also a customer of the Avelia platform.

Nature and biodiversity

We recognize the importance of nature and biodiversity restoration and remain committed to managing our impact. We have taken steps in our own operations and we are engaging with our clients, our suppliers, our people and our communities to take action.

Planting trees to celebrate our people

We are planting

674,000

trees—one to represent each person at Accenture at the time of our announcement in December 2021

Approximately

590,000

of our trees have been planted around the world

Environmental responsibility policy

  • Reducing our environmental impact is built into our Code of Business Ethics (COBE) and our core values, specifically Stewardship. These inform our Environmental Responsibility Policy, which was established in 2007 and is reviewed annually.
  • In addition, industry-wide external certifications, such as ISO® 14001, demonstrate our commitment to running our business responsibly and sustainably, and to integrating environmental processes into our operations. Accenture’s Environment Management System is ISO® 14001 certified globally, with approximately 80 office locations in scope across our operations. Our ISO® 14001 certified locations are listed on Accenture’s ISO® 14001 certificate.

The information provided on this site reflects our goals, progress and performance across our global operations during fiscal 2023 
(ended August 31, 2023), unless otherwise noted.