Environmental stewardship

As a leading professional services provider, PwC China recognises that business travel, particularly air travel, is a significant contributor to our scope 3 emissions. Therefore, it is important for us to rethink and make changes to more sustainable ways of working and travelling. PwC China joined Asia's first major Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Programme with Cathay Pacific in 2023. As one of the first corporate launch customers, we have purchased SAF, made from used cooking oil and animal fat waste, to help stimulate supply and spur the market. 

For SAF to play a material role in reducing emissions from air travel in the medium to long term, policy support and the right market conditions are also needed to help scale their usage. In 2024, PwC China, as one of 14 partners, joined the Hong Kong SAF Coalition with the aim of decarbonising the aviation industry. Launched by Business Environment Council, the coalition strives to accelerate the deployment of credible SAF in Hong Kong SAR, contributing to Hong Kong SAR’s low-carbon economy transition and national goal on carbon neutrality. It represents a range of stakeholders across the SAF value chain, including SAF producers and suppliers, technical agencies and the airport regulator, as well as end-users and non-profit organisations. 

“The aim of the coalition is to spearhead decarbonisation within the aviation industry and position Hong Kong SAR as a regional and global hub for sustainable aviation fuel. PwC is honoured to work together with our coalition partners, leveraging our expertise to help global efforts to tackle the climate challenge.” 
 

--Douglas Johnson, PwC China Net Zero Leader

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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 SAR since 2022.

Project Prosperity has been implemented at Ha Pak Nai on the northwestern coast of Hong Kong SAR, an important biodiversity hot spot, home to one of the largest seagrass beds and hence to many different species including the horseshoe crab. 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. 

To address the pressing environmental challenges, Phase 1 of the project focused on conserving the ocean by preventing pollution through the rehabilitation of abandoned and water-adjacent farmland at Ha Pak Nai. It also initiated a circular economy by planting native species of bamboo and creates green job opportunities for the underemployed young adult workforce in the village. Building upon this success, Phase 2 implemented a holistic approach to marine restoration and community engagement, aiming to safeguard biodiversity, mitigate climate impacts, and foster sustainable practices within the local community. From the restoration of fragile ecosystems to the deployment of innovative technologies, this project embodies a multifaceted approach to environmental stewardship. By integrating scientific expertise, technological innovation, and community involvement, we aspire to create lasting positive change in the region.

As of 2024, the project has had:

• a total of 960 culms of bamboo planted on the coast of northwestern New Territories of Hong Kong SAR
• 2,189kg of marine debris removed by both robotic deployments and beach clean-up volunteering activities
• 77m² of cordgrass removed
• 303 students trained on the robotic technology
• 164 volunteering hours contributed by PwC employees
• 23 job opportunities created for bamboo maintenance and site operation

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.
 

• 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 2022, nearly 3,000 PwC China people have used this unique tool to calculate their carbon footprint.
• Green Team: The PwC China Green Team is a network of nearly 300 partners and staff who are committed to creating a sustainability culture and making PwC China an eco-friendlier 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 FY24, we collaborated with NGOs, International Organisations and climate educators to host 12 educational workshops and volunteering events, consisting of different topics, covering green innovation, biodiversity, plastic recycling, sustainable farming, waste management, clean energy, sustainable fashion and other climate actions. These events raise awareness in an interactive way and call for individual actions 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, community recycling volunteering, contributing to the circular economy with upcycling and recycling social enterprises, raising funds for environmental conservation, and participating in important biodiversity research.

Achieving a sustainable future requires collective actions, and being one of the major players in our industry, we understand that our decarbonisation goals are only achievable through meaningful collaboration with our supply chain partners. In FY24, we continued to strengthen relationships with our suppliers, equipping them with the knowledge and resources needed to align with science-based climate action.

Our comprehensive commitment to achieving net-zero emissions recognises our supply chain as a pivotal area for impact, and includes a target that 50% of our suppliers of goods and services (by emissions) establish science-based targets (SBTs). By helping our suppliers in their decarbonisation journey, we not only support our internal net-zero objectives but also contribute to reducing carbon emissions across the broader business ecosystem.

In FY24, we made notable advancements towards our supply chain target - over 13% of PwC China suppliers (by emissions) had SBT targets validated, and another 10.5% have committed to setting SBTs in the future. These achievements reflect the deep connections we’ve built and the efforts made by our suppliers in this collective journey.

Our strategy for engaging with our supply chain emphasises education, collaboration, and accountability. This year, we have focused on several key initiatives that have been instrumental in driving our collective progress towards decarbonisation:

• Regular supplier webinars

We organised a series of interactive webinars aimed at educating our suppliers about our net zero commitment and the significance of setting science-based targets (SBTs). These sessions were designed to facilitate knowledge exchange and open dialogue, allowing us to address shared challenges and provide customised solutions to support suppliers in their own decarbonisation efforts. 

• Tracking and transparency

To maintain alignment with our goals and ensure accountability, we have established a comprehensive system for tracking suppliers' SBT validation status. This system is coupled with clear communication of our expectations, which has been crucial in strengthening our partnerships and ensuring that our suppliers understand our collective aspiration to achieve net-zero emissions. 

As we continue this journey, the engagement with our suppliers remains vital. By investing in our suppliers' capabilities and working towards measurable goals, we are collectively contributing to a more sustainable future.

In addition to our efforts to reduce our emissions in line with our near-term science-based targets (SBTs), we also compensate for any scope 1, 2 and scope 3 business travel emissions we have not yet reduced through purchasing high-quality carbon credits.

Our purchase follows the PwC network’s internal quality criteria, which ensures that our portfolio consists of high-integrity credits, including criteria on purchasing the most recent credits from projects verified by an independent third party to market leading standards. The internal criteria also reflects our strategic goal to purchase at least 50% of our credit portfolio from nature-based solutions. By focusing on conserving, restoring, or better managing natural environments, benefits can go beyond reducing carbon. 

In FY24, PwC China supported the below carbon credit projects to offset our remaining energy and mobility emissions, including scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3 business travel:
 

• Chudu Afforestation (China): This project is implemented on desertification lands in Xichuan County of Henan Province, an area where no natural renewal and reforestation was happening before the launch of this project. The aim is to increase carbon sequestration, enhance biodiversity conservation, and improve soil and water quality while contributing to local sustainable development. The project has so far increased up to 36,500 hectares of forest cover and 33,000 community members are expected to be full time employees of the project, with women making up 70% of the employed. The project is expected to remove GHG emissions by 13,377,665 tCO₂e over 20 years, with an average annual removal of 668,883 tCO₂e.
• Huada Afforestation (China): This project located in Bijie City of Guizhou Province, planted 43,600 hectares of forest on barren lands suffering from karst rocky desertification. It aims to sequester greenhouse gases, enhance biodiversity, improve soil and water conservation, and generate income for local communities. The project is expected to remove GHG emissions by 21,072,163 tCO₂e over 30 years, with an average annual removal of 702,405 tCO₂e. 
• LEAF Coalition: The PwC network joined the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance (LEAF) Coalition in 2021 to help put an end to tropical deforestation, which is integral to respond to the climate crisis. Through LEAF we have purchased jurisdictional REDD+ credits from Ghana, where unsustainable logging and mining, infrastructure development, and cocoa farming expansion have continuously shrunk Ghana’s natural forest cover for the past few decades. The government is currently confronting these challenges through aggressive afforestation programmes, aiming to simultaneously reclaim degraded lands and funnel direct financial benefits to sustainable, local land management approaches.
  
  The LEAF Coalition uses the independent ART TREES standard, which specifies requirements for the quantification, monitoring, reporting and verification of GHG emission reductions and removals from REDD+ activities at a large jurisdictional scale. In line with the Cancun Safeguards, ART TREES upholds the right of Indigenous stakeholders to participate in the design and implementation of REDD+ actions.

PwC China has started an initiative called "Go green. Get on track." in 2021 to encourage more of our people to choose high-speed rail as a low-carbon alternative to flying. Since July 2022 we expanded coverage to 15 eligible routes, building on the success of the pilot Beijing-Shanghai initiative that provides an upgraded and lower-carbon travel experience. 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 FY24 a record high of over 3,500 employees chose high-speed train travel with more than 13,200 trips taken on the 15 routes. Their actions helped to increase the proportion of train trips to 35%, double the proportion in FY19 on these routes (only 17%), resulting in approximately 30% reduction in average emissions per trip.

“Since the firm introduced the 'Go Green. Get on track' policy, I've been taking high-speed rail more and more often. The punctuality of high-speed rail is excellent, and the stations are usually in the city center, so I don't have to arrive hours in advance like at an airport. This has significantly improved my travel efficiency. Plus, the upgrade to first-class seats through the policy makes the journey more quiet and comfortable. I can work or rest on the train, making my business trips much more relaxed.”
 

--Lawrence Huang, Advisory, PwC China