The Deloitte Better Buildings Toolkit is a customised set of internal guidelines and tools developed to establish globally applicable sustainability standards for Deloitte’s real estate assets in Southeast Asia regions, in alignment with our WorldClimate goals. The toolkit supports our net-zero objectives by helping us embed WorldClimate’s sustainability pillars. It also serves as an educational resource to empower our people and engage our major suppliers.

For example, during the relocation and renovation of our Brunei office, we achieved reduction in Scope 2 emissions by upgrading the LED lighting and installing motion sensors in meeting rooms and bathrooms, designed to decrease energy consumption. By utilising natural lighting and reusing furniture, we further minimised our environmental impact and contributed to both Scope 2 and 3 emissions reductions.

In addition to reducing emissions from our physical offices, we have been migrating local data storage to the cloud and encouraging our people to perform regular digital cleanups. These efforts aim to optimise our data usage and reduce digital clutter.

Other initiatives include reducing and replacing old printers with eco-friendly, energy-efficient machines while instituting a ‘no printing, digital as default’ policy for our working papers, event support materials and business cards. These changes demonstrate that our commitment to sustainability extends beyond our buildings to encompass the systems and processes that support our everyday operations.

As a professional services firm, travel significantly contributes to Deloitte’s emissions – especially towards our Scope 3 emissions – which include indirect emissions generated through business travel. Recognising the critical role in-person interactions play in maintaining client relationships and fostering team collaboration, we have developed a sustainable travel policy to balance these needs with our broader commitment to climate action.

This policy encourages our teams to adopt more sustainable travel practices that reduce the frequency and environmental impact of business trips. When travel is necessary, we prioritise the use of more sustainable options such as train travel over flights for short distances and the default use of electric vehicles.

To accelerate our pathway to reaching Deloitte’s WorldClimate goals, we will start the adoption of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in FY25 to mitigate our annual travel emissions. Additionally, we are actively developing solutions for the SAF value chain in the APAC region. Our portfolio approach demonstrates our commitment to making proactive efforts to reduce emissions within Deloitte’s value chain and moving beyond retroactive carbon offsets.

By embedding these practices into our business culture, we aim to meaningfully reduce our carbon footprint while demonstrating that sustainability and business needs can go hand in hand.

We are committed to actively assessing, managing, and reducing supply chain emissions, a crucial aspect of our sustainability strategy. We have intensified our efforts across Deloitte’s major purchasing categories, with key initiatives such as integrating sustainability-related questions into our requests for proposals and incorporating specific contract language that is aligned with our Suppliers Code of Conduct.

We also encourage suppliers to accurately measure and publicly report their carbon emissions, prioritising those that have set an approved science-based target and can demonstrate progress.

By 2025, we aim for at least 67 per cent of our global supply chain to have set 1.5°C-aligned, science-based carbon reduction targets. Additionally, Deloitte Global has established a dedicated Procurement Sustainability team focused on driving sustainability solutions across our operations. This ensures that our supply chain practices meet and exceed global sustainability standards.

‘Through our WorldClimate work, we embed sustainability in everything we do as a firm. We have a responsibility to lead by example and amplify the impact of climate action with our clients and stakeholders, sustainability is not something extra; it’s very much our core business,’ said Yvonne Zhang, Deloitte SEA WorldClimate Director.

Temasek Trust launched the Amplifier Mentoring Programme in 2023. This one-year programme equips selected climate tech startups with the tools and skillsets needed to deliver positive change at scale. Deloitte is the delivery partner for the programme’s inaugural cohort, with Deloitte Center for the Edge Southeast Asia coordinating our involvement and our internal sustainability subject matter experts contributing to the selection and upskilling of the startups involved.

Deloitte is also the amplifying partner for The Liveability Challenge (TLC), launched by Temasek Trust. TLC is a global call for viable, groundbreaking solutions to some of the most significant ‘liveability’ problems facing cities in the tropics.