Message from Leadership
Securing a sustainable future for humanity and the planet is our shared right and collective responsibility. At Deloitte, we understand the power of partnership, leadership, and collective and individual responsibility in achieving a future that sustains life and livelihoods. Our approach to business is premised on our appreciation that we are part of a wider ecosystem, comprising our people, clients, society, and the environment. We recognize that our activities can affect every element of this network. Therefore, we are committed to leveraging our skills and resources to truly make an impact that is sustainable and contributes to the benefit of the communities in which we live and operate. In accordance with our Shared Values, particularly our dedication to leading the way and collaborating for impact, we are compelled to act internally, as well as leverage our leadership to influence our clients and the wider society in quickly transitioning toward a low-carbon future and reimagining the pathway to development.
As an organization, we recognize that unmitigated climate change presents the most formidable threat to the planet and humanity. We stand in solidarity with the call for urgent international action toward achieving the overarching goal of the Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to 1.5°C by the end of this century. We are committed to being part of the solution, demonstrating leadership by impacting lives, the environment, and the wider society, as well as empowering our clients to manage their operations and supply chains in ways that adequately address environmental and social impacts and reduce risks.
Our commitment within the Caribbean and Bermuda region
Across our Caribbean and Bermuda member firm, we have embedded a value for sustainability, guided by Deloitte Global’s WorldClass and WorldClimate flagship environmental and societal impact programs, and we are progressing toward achieving Net-zero Carbon Emissions by 2030. Our overall ambition is to obtain a 50% reduction as part of our net-zero goal.
We have been tracking monitoring and reporting on all three scopes of GHG emissions; Scopes 1, 2 and 3, i.e., total emissions from operations, business travel, and purchases of goods and services, for the past 5 years, since FY2019 our baseline year. Our focus on reducing our supply chain emissions is supported by our adoption of a Zero-Waste and reduced waste agenda and our Supplier (Vendor) Code of Conduct.
We are proud to announce that our Sustainability Policies and net-operate practices have resulted in a 46% reduction in Scope 2 emissions from FY2019. These policies are established in our offices to further reinforce our commitment to promoting sustainable practices in how we conduct business. The elimination of single-use plastics and instituting energy efficiency strategies in our office spaces, are a few additional examples of the operational approach adopted in the conduct of our daily activities.
Now that we are fully out of the pandemic period with travel restrictions lifted, we have also managed our business travel Scope 3 numbers and maintaining our 6% increase. It is our intention to continue reducing our business travel with strategic decisions on the need to fly and use of sustainable airlines when doing so, and this is reflected in our Sustainability policies.
In this regard, we continue to offset all emissions Scope 1,2,3, incurred by our business operations, travel and purchases of goods and services, by investing in carbon offset projects. In previous years, we have invested in rainforest restoration, windfarm substitution infrastructure, and improved cookstoves to name a few.
In FY2023, we took the decision to focus our offset activities on biodiversity and nature related projects, equating our investment per metric tonne of CO2e emission.
Thus, we invested in the following NGOs within the local communities, where we operate:
Bahamas National Trust
The Bahamas National Trust is a science-based organization dedicated to effectively managing national parks to conserve and protect Bahamian natural resources.
Barbados Environment Conservation Trust
The Barbados Environment Conservation Trust covers a wide range of conservation activities from fieldwork, community engagement, campaigns/raising awareness, and providing technical support from provision of equipment to consultancy.
Bermuda Audubon Society
The Bermuda Audubon Society supports conservation projects such as the Bluebird, Longtail and Cahow nest-site programmes, through education advocacy and planting of trees.
Beyond the Reef (British Virgin Islands)
Beyond the Reef is a non-profit organization dedicated to artistically creating underwater ecosystems, tackling “ghost fishing”, coral restoration, cleaning the coasts and conducting shark research. Our donation was in support of their ongoing project on “Strong Coral Tissue Disease coral treatment”.
National Trust for the Cayman Islands
The National Trust is dedicated to the conservation of Cayman’s vital mangrove system since its inception in 1987. They are a nonprofit created to preserve the history and biodiversity across all three Cayman Islands, through education and conservation.
Pointe-a-Pierre Wildfowl Trust (Trinidad)
The Pointe-a-Pierre Wildfowl Trust is dedicated to environmental education and the conservation of wetlands and waterfowl.
Within the region, we have also made a commitment to improving the lives and contributing to the skills development of 85,000 persons within our communities by 2030. We have achieved 43% of this goal. With this objective at the forefront of our minds, throughout FY2023, our people continued to make an impact that matters by spearheading and partnering with local non-profits and educational institutions in societal and environmental initiatives, offering donations, volunteering, and providing support through pro bono projects.
Notwithstanding the relatively small size of our member firm, we are proud to have invested US$2.3M within our communities across the region over the last fiscal year, and we congratulate our people who recorded 8,039 hours in volunteer and pro bono hours.
