Responsible business

Ethics and Business Conduct

Our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. This, combined with our values, guides our behaviour and actions. Our infrastructure for sound governance, independence, ethics and compliance is equally important. 

You can read more about our approach on our ethics and compliance page.

Explore the different ways we are supporting our people, clients and suppliers by helping them to achieve their full potential.

Realising the potential of our people

We’re a community of over 360,000 people in 151 countries. We’re dedicated to working together to solve important problems.

Our global strategy, The New Equation is fuelled by our purpose, values and behaviours. Its mission is to help organisations build trust with their stakeholders and deliver sustained outcomes. A place where innovative mindsets and smart technologies come together with fresh, diverse perspectives - human led, tech powered.

Our priority is our people - keeping them safe, protecting jobs, looking after their wellbeing, providing opportunities to learn and grow, and continuing to build a diverse and inclusive workforce

As we evolve as a business we’re also upskilling our people. We’ve been on a digital transformation journey to change the way we work - creating space for our people to learn, build and scale innovation.

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people together

Working with clients

Our impact comes from the work we do every day, helping clients navigate many of the complex systems - capital markets, tax and economies - that underpin society. We believe we also have a responsibility to help these systems evolve, so they benefit communities and society more widely.

Success is no longer measured by just financial success, but how well you prepare for and adapt to a highly dynamic world. Continual innovation is needed to inspire and lead positive change throughout business communities. At PwC we bring together an unexpected and dynamic combination of talent and technology - to help our clients drive their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy into the heart of their business.

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clients together

Working with suppliers for positive change

PwC expects our suppliers and contractors to play their part to limit climate warming including efforts to identify and manage environmental risks and impacts of their organisation and supply chain. Our Global Third Party Code of Conduct includes an environmental stewardship clause, with our commitment to achieve net zero GHG emissions with near-term science-based targets for 2030. Our code of conduct is a global requirement for all our suppliers and contractors.

We are continuing to encourage our suppliers to look at how they can reduce their climate impact, including setting their own science-based targets (SBTs). We have committed that 50% of our purchased goods and services suppliers (by emissions) across our network have set science-based targets by FY25. We are also committed to transitioning to 100% renewable electricity in all our territories by FY30. We are now using over 90% renewable electricity in 82 countries across our global network.

Many of our firms will also take action to drive positive impact through procurement, for instance:

  • Using data to understand our supplier’s emissions: PwC India created a net zero supplier dashboard that captured a range of data on what they spend and their suppliers’ emissions. The firm was then able to introduce net zero requirements in their selection process for suppliers, and establish regular communication with carbon-intensive suppliers to explain the importance of setting validated SBTs.

responsible business
  • Upskilling and internal capacity building: PwC Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and their 27 territories are using a supplier maturity model to identify their top suppliers and see if they have science-based targets in place. They are also developing a plan to engage vendors with the largest potential impact and work with them to build their own science-based targets. 
  • Encouraging suppliers to have their own net zero ambitions: PwC Netherlands is working with its top 25 suppliers (by emissions) who do not have SBTs. It is helping suppliers to understand their own sustainability ambition and if SBTs are a part of their future strategy. The firm is adding a subclause to current contract renewals and tender processes that requires new suppliers to commit to setting SBTs and submitting their targets to SBTi within the next 18 months.

Helping shape and accelerate the global climate and ESG policy agenda

We need significant change in economic structures that guide the economy. These changes will help both business and society. We’ll contribute to this change, by using our experience across sectors and countries, and across purpose, corporate governance, incentives and reporting.

We’re also working with policy makers, standard setters and businesses to align around a common set of reporting standards for non-financial information. Ultimately, these standards can help to create trust in businesses that can demonstrate good performance, as well as trust in society’s ability to do the right thing on the issues that matter.

We contribute our expertise to support the development of the new frameworks and standards needed that will support the global transition. We are members of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).

policy and advocacy

We also work closely with standard-setting bodies, such as the ISSB, EFRAG and the GRI. And beyond that we contribute to debates at key global events such as COP27, COP15, Davos, and the Global Solutions Summit, advocating for the measures to stop the environmental crisis we see looming large.

1 International Sustainability Standards Board 2 European Financial Reporting Advisory Group 3 Global Reporting Initiative

Explore our 2023 PwC Network Environment Report

Explore our 2023 Global Annual Review

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Contact us

Colm Kelly

Colm Kelly

Global Corporate Sustainability Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited

Bethan Grillo

Bethan Grillo

Global Corporate Sustainability Managing Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited

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