Environmental stewardship

As a global network, it is important to us to think about the future of aviation and to contribute to making it more sustainable. In FY23, PwC China joined Asia's first major Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Programme with Cathay Pacific. As one of the first corporate launch customers, we are committed to reducing carbon emissions by purchasing SAF through this first major programme of its kind in Asia.

The SAF used for the launch of this programme is made from used cooking oil and animal fat waste. It is made available to Cathay Pacific by its pilot Corporate SAF Programme fuel suppliers. The very first uplift of SAF at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) was made possible through a collaborative effort with many stakeholders along the supply chain and various government departments. The SAF used in this programme goes through the normal aviation fuelling infrastructure. This provides important learning points to develop an ongoing and regular SAF supply from HKIA in the future.

“As part of PwC’s commitment to net zero, we have made supporting the development of sustainable air travel a priority. Despite its benefits, sustainable aviation fuel only accounts for a very small percentage of global jet fuel used today. Accelerating its adoption over the next decade can help to reduce emissions caused by air travel. Therefore, we are collaborating with the aviation industry to increase investment in SAF. We look forward to collaborating with airlines and other corporates towards transitioning to a net zero future and delivering a sustainable tomorrow.”

--Raymund Chao, PwC Asia Pacific and China Chairman

Biodiversity is essential for the processes that support all life on Earth. The term "nature-positive" has become a call to action across society and business. Sponsored by the PricewaterhouseCoopers Foundation, we have been working with A Plastic Ocean Foundation (APOF) on a project called ‘Project Prosperity’, a highly impactful environmental conservation project in Hong Kong since 2022.

This initiative aims to conserve the ocean by preventing pollution through the rehabilitation of abandoned and water-adjacent farmland at Ha Pak Nai, on the North-western Coast of Hong Kong. At the same time, it initiates a circular economy by planting native species of bamboo and creates green job opportunities for the underemployed young adult workforce in the village.

In FY23 the project launched phase 1, with planting completed and promising growth underway at two sites. The conservation area in Ha Pak Nai is an important biodiversity hot spot, home to one of the largest seagrass beds (4 hectares) in Hong Kong. As well as being home to many different species, the biodiverse area plays an important role as a nursery and feeding ground for the horseshoe crab, which is currently under environmental threat. The environment of Ha Pak Nai is being impacted by pollution, soil erosion and contamination caused by onshore human activities entering nearby waterways and making their way into mudflats and the ocean. Another cause of damage in the area is abandoned farm operations, which have also led to erosion and neglected contaminants leaking into streams and the sea.

Since the project was launched in June 2022 and phase 1 completed, the project has:

• Planted a total of 460 bamboo plants across two sites.
• 190 of those 460 plants are mature Moso bamboo, capable of capturing 102kg of carbon per year, an estimated total of 19.38 metric tonnes of carbon captured in a year.
• The other 270 plants are of three different local bamboo species and were planted to showcase this unique bamboo afforestation initiative to schools.
• Four local farmers and fifteen underemployed youth were hired for bamboo maintenance and site operations.

As we make progress on our climate actions, we share, inspire, and encourage everyone to take responsibility to act in many ways through sustainable behaviour campaigns, upskilling on climate-related issues, supporting the work of PwC Green Team, and joining environmental volunteering events.

• ESG GO: We provide ongoing training and guidance on sustainability-related matters so that our people can stay up to date on the ever-changing ESG landscape. ESG GO is our ESG upskilling campaign that enables our people to acquire relevant ESG knowledge and skills through a personalised learning path. 
• Green Team: The PwC China Green Team is a network of 377 partners and staff who are committed to creating a sustainability culture and making PwC China a more eco-friendly place to work. The team raise awareness of environmental sustainability issues and drive positive behaviour changes across the firm.
• Green Week: PwC China Green Week is an annual firmwide campaign to raise awareness and engage our people in sustainability issues. In FY23, we collaborated with an artist, a social entrepreneur, a landscape architect, and a material designer to show how builders and creators are finding visionary solutions for a greener future.
• PwC China’s Personal Carbon Calculator: Personal Carbon Calculator was launched to help our people understand the carbon impacts of their current lifestyle and how they can tackle the climate crisis. Since the launch in June 2022, over 2,000 PwC China people have used this unique tool to calculate their carbon footprint. More than 12,000 climate pledges have been made by individuals, and for every pledge our people make, PwC China plants shrubs on their behalf to help restore the nature reserves and control desertification in Ningxia, China.
• Sustainability workshops: During FY23, we collaborated with NGOs and climate educators to host 14 educational workshops consisting of different topics, covering ethical fashion, plastic pollution, food for future, waste management and other climate actions. These workshops raise awareness in an interactive way and call for individual power to make a positive impact on our planet.
• Environmental volunteering: We empower our people to contribute to environmental causes through regular volunteering activities. These include beach or nature clean-up events, contributing to the circular economy with upcycling and recycling social enterprises, raising funds for environmental conservation, and participating in important biodiversity research.

With an eye toward identifying and incentivising a range of measures to reduce carbon emissions, PwC China started a pilot internal carbon pricing programme in FY23. The mechanism of internal carbon pricing allows key decision-makers to have appropriate information to quantify, in financial terms, the GHG emissions from our operations. This is principally from business travel (including air travel, taxi travel, train travel and accommodation), which is one of our highest sources of GHG emissions.

This mechanism will come into effect from FY24. The funds generated will be used for purchasing renewable electricity and carbon credits, supporting emission reduction initiatives, engaging our people, and rewarding low-carbon behaviours.

We are committed to reducing the environmental impact of our business, and our net zero commitment is underpinned by near-term science-based targets aligned with a 1.5 degree climate scenario, and validated by the SBTi.

As we work towards these targets, we continue to support high quality carbon offset projects to counterbalance emissions we cannot yet avoid. This gives us an opportunity to address climate impacts, and the interlinked threats of biodiversity and nature loss. In FY23, PwC China offset energy and mobility emissions, including scope 1, 2 and scope 3 business travel. In FY23, PwC China supported:

• Sichuan Household Biogas (China): a project that helps to restore the region and has implemented more than 400,000 rural biogas units that are used to fuel clean gas cookstoves and produce organic fertiliser for farmers.
• Yunnan IFM (China): a project that aims to improve the forest coverage rate, protect local ecological environment, reduce carbon emissions and carbon sequestration by the conversion of logged to protected forests. The project will convert 6,879 hectares of forest and is expected to generate 821,000 tCO₂e emission reductions for 20 years. Beyond the positive impacts on the climate, the project will have several social and environmental benefits.
• TIST Afforestation and Reforestation (Uganda): a combined tree planting, development and carbon programme. Smallholder and subsistence farmers organise themselves into community groups to plant trees on their degraded land to improve their livelihoods and address local, regional and global environmental issues, such as deforestation, biodiversity loss, adaptation and vulnerability to climate change. In addition to raising awareness about deforestation and climate change, the project also aims to inform communities about health issues such as HIV, malaria and other diseases.

PwC China has started an initiative called "Go green. Get on track." to encourage more of our people to choose high-speed rail as a low-carbon alternative to flying. In FY23 we expanded coverage to 15 eligible routes, building on the success of the pilot Beijing-Shanghai initiative that has provided an upgraded and lower-carbon travel experience since 2022. All PwC China people regardless of their grade are now eligible for first class tickets when taking a high-speed train on the 15 eligible routes and receive additional wellness benefits for each trip. This is a "thank you" to every one of our people making a sustainable travel choice to support a net zero future.

In FY23 over 2,600 employees took more than 7,000 trips on the 15 routes, increasing the proportion of train trips on these routes to 30%, compared to 17% in FY19.

“After PwC China launched ‘Go green. Get on track.’, I began to choose high-speed rail more frequently. Although high-speed rail sometimes takes longer than planes for long-distance journeys, it is more punctual and comfortable. When taking high-speed rail, I can also send and receive emails and handle official business online, making it more efficient and cost-effective. In terms of environmental protection, the electricity-powered high-speed rail is cleaner than planes, which heavily rely on fossil fuels for energy. Therefore, high-speed rail is one of the best ways to travel. "

--Maccus Wang, Senior Manager, One Firm Services, PwC China