Making progress on our climate commitments

Deloitte has set a worldwide science-based target to reach net-zero by 2040. This signifies our dedication to helping reduce our carbon footprint and minimising the impact of our operations on the environment.

In 2024, the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) validated our worldwide target to reach net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2040. Deloitte expects to publish a global net-zero transition plan in 2026, outlining how we will continue to transform our operations, practices, and culture in support of our net-zero target.

Achieving net-zero by 2040 requires collaboration across our firm and with our suppliers and clients. It entails a transformation to reduce the environmental impact of our business. This includes how we serve our clients, the technology we use to do our work, and the offices where we work.

Our near-term targets:

• Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 70% by 2030, from a 2019 base year.
• Reduce Scope 3 GHG emissions from business travel by 55% per FTE (full-time equivalent employee) by 2030 from a 2019 base year. (Note: To meet the SBTi Net-Zero Standard, Deloitte increased its business travel reduction target from 50% to 55% in 2024).
• Engage with our suppliers to have set science-based targets, with a target of 67% by 2025 (by emissions, covering purchased goods and services and business travel).

Our long-term targets:

• Achieve net-zero GHG emissions across our value chain by 2040.
• Reduce absolute Scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG emissions by 90% by 2040 from a 2019 base year.

Progress against our net-zero targets 

In support of our net-zero ambition for FY25, we are actively tracking and reporting progress against our target to reduce absolute total emissions by 90% by 2040.

In FY25, total emissions decreased compared to the FY19 baseline. Across NSE:

• Emissions from business travel fell to 55% per full-time employee
• We increased the proportion of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles in our fleet to 69%
• 100% of our energy consumption was renewable
• We undertook 43 energy efficiency interventions across our offices, including three sustainable office moves or refurbishments in Belgium, Ireland and the UK
• We embedded sustainability targets into partner and people goals in the UK
• The Netherlands and UK firms introduced carbon budgets. For further details, please see the [link: Climate-related Financial Disclosures report] 

We are confident that the foundational work undertaken sets us on a credible path towards our science-based net-zero by 2040 target. Throughout FY25, we have maintained a strong focus on material emissions areas and laid the groundwork to accelerate our progress. This includes the establishment of a dedicated global net-zero taskforce responsible for the development of a comprehensive network-wide net-zero transition plan, which outlines how we intend to transform our operations, practices, and culture to achieve our net-zero goals. Read more about this in our Global Impact Report.

In FY25, scope 1 and 2 emissions are down 69% on the baseline of FY19, which is on track to meet our 2030 target of a 70% reduction. 

Scope 3 emissions from business travel fell to 55% per full-time employee in FY25 compared to the FY19 baseline, putting us on track to meet our 2030 target. We increased our business travel emission reduction target from 50% to 55% in FY25, following the update of the SBTi’s near-term net-zero target requirements. We continue to encourage sustainable travel choices through policy and interventions such as the Sustainable Delivery Policy, and by providing clear and actionable data to inform decision-making through our Travel Dashboard and Travel Emissions Calculator.

Our supply chain is the single largest contributor to our carbon footprint, which means we have an opportunity to make a positive impact through the goods and services we buy.  Deloitte’s suppliers with science-based targets (SBTs) increased from 8% to 32% (FY21–FY25), which is short of our target of 67% by 2025.  
 
This is a complex area to progress and across our diverse supply chain we have experienced a wide range of readiness in suppliers’ ability to set SBTs. However, we continue to take meaningful steps to influence and collaborate with our suppliers to reduce emissions.   
 
We have incorporated sustainability criteria into our procurement processes, expanded our supplier outreach and enhanced expectations for suppliers. Our Responsible Procurement Policy, introduced in January 2025, calls for new and renewed suppliers to meet minimum environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. This creates an opportunity to accelerate our efforts to reduce emissions and actively contribute to tackling the broader environmental and social challenges we collectively face. 

We continue to evolve our emissions reporting systems, processes and controls as part of our commitment to improving our emissions reporting. Enhanced data visibility and ongoing improvements - particularly related to purchased goods and services - led to a material change in reported emissions within this category. When material changes occur, we will explain the change and reasoning for it. We believe the improvements made to our data and reporting methodology will help us to better understand what is required to meet our target of net-zero GHG emissions by 2040.

Beyond our value chain 

Deloitte NSE is using its skills, capabilities and investments to tackle climate change, protect and restore nature, and drive societal impact through best practice ‘Beyond Value Chain Mitigation’ (BVCM) collaborations aligned to the latest science and emerging standards. 

In FY25, we allocated £5.6m, through a combination of value in kind and direct investment, to a portfolio of seven transformational projects, including collaborating with WWT on wetlands restoration and Soil Association on regenerative food systems. We also invested £2.2m in carbon credits in alignment with SBTi guidance to purchase credits representative of at least 50% of FY25 ongoing emissions.

We’re also helping The Earthshot Prize find innovative entrepreneurs, connecting them to our networks and sharing our expertise to scale the solutions that can contribute to a better future. 

Further information on our progress against our climate commitments can be found in our detailed GHG statement and FY25 Climate-related Financial Disclosures report.  

Our environmental and GHG reporting, as well as our societal impact reporting, is powered by Deloitte’s GreenLight Solution, the same technology that our practitioners implement for Deloitte clients to use to track their progress towards net-zero.