EU Taxonomy assessment

We have assessed our business operations against the EU Taxonomy and the economic activities outlined in the Delegated Acts to Regulation 2020/852 of June 18, 2020 (the "EU Taxonomy Regulation"). As the core business activities of KPMG are currently not covered by the EU Taxonomy, we identified only a limited number of eligible activities, none of which are currently aligned. This chapter provides a detailed overview of our assessment and outlines our perspective on the next steps.

Eligible activities

We screened KPMG’s internal financial reporting, the activity descriptions in the annexes to the Delegated Acts, and our peers’ EU Taxonomy disclosures to identify eligible activities. We also validated the identified turnover-generating activities through interviews with engagement leaders.

For 2024/2025, the following eligible economic activities were identified:

Table 7

KPMG is also involved in education activities defined under activity CCA 11.1; however, this does not result in the recognition of turnover, CapEx, or OpEx in accordance with the EU Taxonomy definition. Training provided for clients on (upcoming) ESG regulation is often not a separate performance obligation, but rather part of a broader project.

Alignment assessment

For eligible activities, KPMG has assessed the relevant technical screening criteria. Activities that are not material and for which we were unable to ascertain compliance with the technical screening criteria due to a lack of data or evidence are reported as eligible without further assessment for alignment.

Activity CCM 6.5 Transport by motorbikes, passenger cars, and light commercial vehicles

Employees of KPMG can lease passenger cars. Due to the number of vehicles and range of manufacturers in our fleet, we have engaged with our lessors to obtain relevant data for the alignment assessment, particularly regarding reuse and recyclability criteria, as well as the rolling noise requirements. As we were unable to obtain all necessary data to conclude on alignment, all additions in 2024/2025 are reported as eligible but not aligned.

Activity CCM 7.3 Installation, maintenance, and repair of energy efficiency equipment

While KPMG does not perform any direct operational activities under this category, we invest in energy-efficient equipment, such as lighting and HVAC systems, through our leased office spaces. These investments contribute to climate change mitigation objectives.

Due to the nature of KPMG’s business and the fact that third-party lessors typically manage installations, we were unable to obtain sufficient supporting evidence that the equipment meets the technical screening criteria, such as classification in the two highest-populated energy-efficiency classes under EU regulations. As a result, the alignment criteria have not been met, and the activity is reported as eligible but not aligned.

Activity CCM 7.7 Acquisition and ownership of buildings

KPMG N.V. leases a limited number of buildings in the Netherlands. In 2024/2025, additional square meters were leased in Eindhoven (291m², energy label A++) as of February 1 and Maastricht (701m², energy label A) as of September 1. In Amstelveen, we signed a contract for 18 months for 1,080m² (energy label A2). These additions for the lease of these office buildings and extra floors amounts to 600,000 EUR. All buildings have an EPC label A or higher. However, KPMG has not yet conducted its own climate risk and vulnerability assessment, nor assessed the physical climate risks for these buildings. Therefore, these additions are reported as eligible but not aligned.

Activity CE 1.2 Manufacture of electrical and electronic equipment

KPMG purchases computer equipment (primarily laptops), the manufacturing of which is a Taxonomy-eligible activity. The assessment of alignment of activities in the Environmental Delegated Act is not yet a requirement for the reporting period and is therefore reported as eligible but not aligned.

Minimum safeguards

Compliance with minimum safeguards is a prerequisite for alignment, ensuring that economic activities beneficial to the environment do not have an adverse social and governance impact. KPMG is still in the process of assessing compliance with the minimum safeguards. For more information on the topics of anti-corruption and anti-bribery, human rights policy commitments, board diversity, and equal pay, see the relevant sections of this sustainability statement.

Key performance indicators

Table 8

The financial information used to calculate these metrics is sourced from KPMG’s accounting system and excludes intercompany transactions. Where applicable, to avoid double counting in the KPIs, amounts related to economic activities contributing to multiple environmental objectives have been allocated to the most relevant EO (as indicated in bold in the KPI tables).

Contextual information

This chapter reports on the EU Taxonomy Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for KPMG for the financial year 2024/2025. Comparative figures are presented for 2023/2024, the first year of EU Taxonomy reporting.

Turnover from eligible activities remains limited, as, for example, sustainability advisory expertise used in assurance services is currently not considered eligible. Future amendments to the EU Taxonomy might result in the inclusion of low environmental impact activities, such as professional services provided by auditors.

CapEx, which includes an amount of zero related to acquisitions through business combinations, is broken down as follows.

Table 9

OpEx, in accordance with the EU Taxonomy definition, is calculated and considered not material for our business model. The denominator for 2024/2025 amounts to EUR 9.6 million, which is 1.4% of KPMG’s total OpEx, and mainly relates to research and development. As the reporting exemption is applied, the OpEx numerator in the KPI tables is reported as nil.

We have not issued environmentally sustainable bonds or debt securities for the purpose of financing Taxonomy-aligned activities.

Activities related to nuclear energy and fossil gas

Table 10

Evolution of alignment

KPMG has not yet set any targets regarding EU Taxonomy alignment and currently does not have a Taxonomy CapEx plan in place according to the definition in the Disclosures Delegated Act. As the assets are primarily leased rather than owned by KPMG, the alignment percentage is not expected to change significantly in the short and medium term compared to 2024/2025. However, we will continue to engage with our lessors and assess the relevance of obtaining the necessary data to evaluate alignment. The technical screening criteria will also be considered in future investments in buildings.

Turnover, CapEx, and OpEx

The EU Taxonomy datapoint disclosures are as follows.

KPI: Turnover

Table 11

KPI: CapEx

Table 12

KPI: OpEx

Table 13