At KPMG N.V., we believe that sustainable growth is the only way to build a truly successful organization with a lasting positive impact on our society and the environment. We therefore strive to make ESG the watermark running through everything we do.
The KPMG Impact Plan outlines KPMG International’s commitments to the United Nations (UN) Global Compact Principles and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By combining this with our own local Impact Plan – containing our Dutch objectives and contributing to the global KPMG Impact Plan – we aim to integrate ESG into our decision-making processes, set a good example for our clients, motivate them to follow suit, and make a positive contribution to society. Our goals for KPMG N.V. span four key pillars: Planet, People, Prosperity, and Governance.
Please see our sustainability statement (new window) for our ESRS-aligned General and ESG disclosures, including details of our sustainability-related policies, actions, metrics, and targets. For further details on Our Impact Plan, see our website (new window).
Planet
We aim to play our part in the transition to a net-zero society by minimizing the environmental impact of our work processes as far as possible. After purchased goods and services, business travel, especially air travel, is our second largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We are focusing on making travel more sustainable through our flexible mobility policy.
KPMG N.V. uses internal carbon pricing (ICP) to assign a financial value to the GHG emissions caused by our activities. With the money from our ICP budget, we have financed measures to promote environmental sustainability, such as charging stations for electric vehicles, green energy for our offices, and smart building solutions in our headquarters.
People
The health and well-being of our people is our top priority. Our holistic approach includes offering free, confidential consultations with a certified psychologist or lifestyle coach and providing an online platform with self-guided care and group classes. To further support motivation, growth, and engagement, we encourage life-long learning and development, investing significantly year after year in curricula and courses that support people’s personal ambitions and our strategic priorities. We are renowned for the development opportunities we offer and are committed to continuous training and education for everyone, so our people can excel in the work they carry out for our clients and in their own careers.
We are driving positive cultural change across KPMG N.V. This starts at the very top of our organization, where our leaders are key role models for the behaviors we want to instill. At all levels of our firm, our culture and training programs increase awareness of and promote behaviors that fit with our culture of ethics and integrity. This includes our commitment to valuing different perspectives and experiences and advancing IDE. As well as our Values First program and IDE trainings, we have five active communities – Pride, Cultural Diversity, Gender Equality, Ability, and Generation – that celebrate diversity through events and awareness sessions.
We are proud to have a strong gender balance in our Supervisory Board, Board of Management, and business unit leadership teams. While we are also making steady year-on-year progress in our larger leadership cohort of partners and directors, we are not keeping pace with our ambition. We are therefore investing in further unbiasing our processes and strengthening our pipeline of diverse talent, through initiatives such as inclusive sponsoring.
Prosperity
We believe everyone should have equal opportunities to advance their careers. In this regard, we focus on sponsoring people at a distance from education opportunities and the labor market, as this is where we can make the most meaningful impact. KPMG N.V. also provides pro-bono advice to several foundations to help them realize their strategic ambitions and increase their positive impact.
We aim to create equal opportunities by helping young people access education and life-long learning. The KPMG MBO Talent Booster, formerly known as the Jan Hommen Stichting, for example, supports secondary vocational education students with scholarships and events aimed at helping them reach their full potential. We also partner with Emma at Work to match people with chronic physical health conditions to vacancies in our firm. Meanwhile, many of our people volunteer their time to support SDG-aligned educational projects run by our partners, including JINC and the Refugee Talent Hub.
Governance
A large part of our ESG impact is delivered by supporting our clients on their transitional strategies and operations. In fact, our ESG-related business across both Advisory and Assurance is growing, with year-on-year net sales rising by 9% in 2023/2024. To support this development and accelerate the sustainability transition in our market, we are working continuously to embed the necessary knowledge, operating models, and capabilities in our three business functions. In doing so, we aim to differentiate KPMG N.V. as an ESG leader in the Netherlands. We also collaborate with Nyenrode Business University’s ESG Innovation Institute, which conducts and shares applied scientific research to help business leaders accelerate their organizations’ ESG transformations.
At the same time, we recognize that our sustainability impact starts with us. For the first time, therefore, we have prepared the sustainability statement as part of this integrated report in compliance with the ESRS of the CSRD. Fulfilling the requirements of CSRD is one of the most significant and widespread new challenges facing our clients. By publishing this sustainability statement under limited assurance, we are living up to our ambition of being at the forefront of sustainability reporting – providing transparency on our performance on key ESG topics and setting an example for our clients.