Deloitte boosts climate team with new leadership addition and firm’s first chief sustainability officer

• Anne-Marie Malley to lead Deloitte’s UK sustainability and climate team
• Smruti Naik-Jones becomes firm’s first chief sustainability officer

Deloitte has added new leadership to its sustainability and climate team in the UK, appointing Anne-Marie Malley as UK sustainability and climate leader and Smruti Naik-Jones as the firm’s first chief sustainability officer.

Anne-Marie Malley previously led Deloitte’s consulting practice in the UK and will use her experience and expertise to lead the sustainability and climate team across the firm, working with organisations to help them set and achieve their sustainability goals. In her role as chief sustainability officer, Smruti Naik-Jones will lead the firm’s WorldClimate strategy to drive Deloitte’s own net zero and sustainability agenda.

With experts already positioned throughout the firm, Deloitte continues to build its capability through the recruitment of specialists in response to client demand, having recently recruited five new partners focussed on sustainability and climate. This includes partner David Rakowski, who will focus on developing Deloitte’s circularity offering and sustainability business in the Life Sciences and Health Care sector. David joins the firm from PA consulting, where he founded the sustainability and circular economy business and was global lead for sustainability in Life Sciences. He will work with businesses, with a focus on ensuring the design, development and delivery of products support decarbonisation.

Steven Lizars is joining Deloitte as a sustainable finance partner. Steven brings 30 years of investment banking experience across client facing and senior leadership roles – most recently with NatWest Markets – including responsibilities for sustainable finance. His role will focus on helping banks to develop and implement plans that allow them to meet their sustainability goals.

There are currently more than 500 people at Deloitte in the UK focussed on delivering sustainability projects for clients. Deloitte Global invested US$1bn in related services, research, assets and capabilities last year, bolstering the firm’s climate advisory offering across the world, as well as helping to train all of its 350,000 employees in sustainability.

Anne-Marie Malley, UK sustainability and climate leader, commented:

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to lead and drive Deloitte’s sustainability and climate offering for our clients - an area that’s absolutely vital to the success and growth of all businesses going forward, including our own. We all have a responsibility to take action, both as individuals and within organisations. Deloitte is committed to helping clients transition to more sustainable practices and transform their businesses, as well as taking measurable, decisive action internally to deliver our own targets.

“Whether it’s climate scientists, specialists in creating decarbonisation strategies or experts designing ways to achieve sustainability targets, we are recruiting the best people and investing in innovative solutions and services, to continue to help businesses around the UK work towards a more sustainable future.”

Smruti Naik-Jones, UK chief sustainability officer, commented:

“Climate change is arguably the biggest challenge businesses face, and as well as supporting clients to make changes, it’s key we prioritise sustainability within our own firm. I’m delighted to have the opportunity to help continue to transform our business, embed sustainability into our strategy and empower our people to create a better future.”

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Deloitte’s climate action

• Deloitte is including a ‘sustainable delivery’ clause – ‘Clause Zero’ - in our template client engagement letters. The clause will encourage and support Deloitte and its clients to deliver projects in a more sustainable way – for example by opting for digital options such as virtual meetings and using online tools to help make low carbon choices when travel is required. It is designed to place sustainability at the forefront of every project, from initial pursuit through to completion.
• In recent months, teams across all of Deloitte’s business lines have been given access to tools such as a web-based travel emissions calculator, as well as checklists designed to support sustainable decision-making on the delivery of projects.
• In 2021, Deloitte announced that it was introducing a new default pension fund that places a greater focus on sustainability for all of its 35,000 Deloitte pension plan members in Standard Life’s Master Trust, as part of the firm’s wider climate change and sustainability commitments. The firm became The Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) Sustainable World Index Fund’s largest investor with £1bn of pension investments. The fund assesses investments across environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, while also supporting markets and organisations that contribute to a more sustainable future.

For more on Deloitte’s climate commitments and action to date, visit the firm’s WorldClimate page.

About WorldClimate

WorldClimate is Deloitte’s strategy to drive responsible climate choices within our organisation.

We recognise change starts within. Deloitte is committed to taking measurable, decisive action on climate change, empowering Deloitte professionals and engaging the broader ecosystem to create solutions that facilitate the transition to a low carbon economy.

We want to do our part to help the world achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. We believe that the opportunity to create a more sustainable world is at our collective fingertips.