Our Environmental Commitments

Our core purpose is helping people, business and society succeed. Our purpose and values, along with our ESG agenda and robust governance, drive our day-to-day behaviour and business decisions. This is why we are addressing the key issues affecting our people, our communities, and our planet, and taking action to prioritise their future prosperity and wellbeing.

“We act on climate change because it’s the right thing to do. Our clients, colleagues and suppliers expect it and future generations deserve it.”
Andy Butterworth, Chief Operating Officer.

Our Commitment to Net-Zero

We’re committed to achieving Net-Zero by 2050. We have had our targets validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), which follows the latest climate science and has the aim of limiting global temperature rises to below 1.5 degrees Celsius.


Science based targets


Business Ambition

Using the SBTi’s Net Zero Standard, we’ve committed to the following targets:

Near term targets:

  • We will halve our absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by FY2030, against our baseline FY2020.
  • We’ll engage with our suppliers to ensure 80% of them, by emissions, have a science-based target set by FY2027.


Long-term targets:

  • We will reduce our absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 90% by 2050 or sooner.
  • We will reduce our scope 3 GHG emissions by 97% per FTE by 2050 or sooner.


What does the transition to Net-Zero involve?

We know the road to Net-Zero will be complex and that change of this scale will not happen overnight. Both our near-term 2030 and long-term 2050 targets are in place. We believe that by making achievable, realistic commitments now, we can have a real impact on the environment while continuing to support the needs of our people and the businesses we work with.

To achieve this, we are tackling three core areas: the goods and services we buy, the ways in which we work and business travel.

We want our workspaces to be fit for the workforce of the future, as well as having a minimal impact on the environment. We’re measuring our energy and performance data, collecting employee insights, and following best practice guidance. Our aim is to have all our UK offices running on 100% renewable energy. 

We’re enabling our people to make carbon smart travel decisions, such as enhancing our travel policy to encourage more sustainable journeys and reduce domestic air travel, introducing an internal carbon price for air travel, and developing a partner dashboard to increase visibility of individual and team carbon footprints.

Around 90% our carbon emissions come from our scope 3 emissions – these are the indirect emissions we’re responsible for through the goods and services we purchase. It’s therefore a high impact opportunity for us to work with our suppliers to drive down emissions and stay on track to reach our target. We’re working with our highest emitting suppliers to understand their plans to decarbonise and encourage the setting of their own science-based targets. 

The UK firm’s transition to Net-Zero is being overseen by the Decarbonisation Steering Committee, chaired by BDO Finance Partner, Stuart Collins. The team brings together experts from across the business to execute the firm’s detailed transition plans, including understanding where the firm’s emissions come from, the priorities for change, setting new real estate standards, and how progress is measured. For more information on Governance, visit Legal & Regulatory - BDO.

As we make progress on our transition, we continue to monitor and report on our annual carbon emissions. Our latest progress for the year ending 5 July 2024 can be found in our Environmental Report. You can also access our GHG emissions limited assurance statement.

Download our UK Carbon Reduction Plan. This has been produced in line with PPN 06/21 and the associated guidance and reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans.

Climate Disclosures

As a regulated business, we provide a high level of transparency about our work and how we run our firm. You can read our latest transparency report here.

We’ve produced our first set of climate disclosures in line with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Discloses (TCFD) which have been published in our FY23 financial accounts BDO Annual Report 2023.

As a result of our FY23 climate disclosure, we have convened a Climate Risk Working Group to oversee the actions we plan to take to improving how we embed climate risk into our business.

Credentials and certifications

  • We are certified to the International Standards for Environmental Management (ISO 14001) and Energy Management (ISO 50001). These provide a foundation for us to embed environmental and energy considerations into our operations and ensure future progress.
  • We submit a return to Ecovadis, a sustainability ratings service that evaluates companies on environmental, labour, human rights, ethics and procurement impacts. For FY24, BDO achieved a Silver rating, placing us within the top 15% of all companies.
  • We take part in the Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) annual return and for FY24 were awarded a ‘B’ rating. This demonstrates our understanding of climate risks and opportunities, and our efforts to embed decarbonisation into our operations.
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Environmental policy 2024

We’re committed to minimising and actively managing the impact we have on the environment. Our policy communicates to our stakeholder groups the key components of our environmental and energy management programme.
View policy