KPMG will invest more than US$1.5 billion over the next three years to accelerate global solutions for environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
As part of the programme, KPMG will set up five hubs to provide solutions on key ESG issues. These include a hub focused on global decarbonisation to help large multinational businesses meet net-zero commitments, and one on global ESG advisory, which will be backed by advisory teams from KPMG firms to offer ESG expertise that includes leadership on societal issues and solutions.
The remaining three will be KPMG Regional ESG Hubs to be set up in Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas to allow clients easier access to its ESG services. As part of Asia Pacific's regional hub, the firm will also set up a global hub for banking in Singapore to serve the region and globally.
Separately, KPMG will invest in its climate and ESG solutions technologies as well as expand its workforce for ESG advisory work and assurance.
It added that it would develop its audit workflow technology to deliver ESG assurance that is on par with its financial audit work.
KPMG's global chairman and chief executive Bill Thomas said that "ESG will be the watermark running through our global organisation".
Internally, the firm will provide ESG training to all of its 227,000 staff by partnering with the University of Cambridge Judge Business School and the NYU Stern Executive Education.
Furthermore, KPMG will launch KPMG Emerging Markets Accelerators for developing nations in the Eastern Mediterranean, Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America.
Meanwhile its alliances with Google Cloud, Microsoft and ServiceNow has allowed KPMG to create new tools and solutions that provide clients with insights to map their ESG journeys.
Ong Pang Thye, managing partner of KPMG in Singapore, noted that ESG is a global issue and national challenge, but companies still find it challenging to incorporate and holistically integrate ESG across their value chain, even with corporate reputations at stake.
He expects KPMG's investments can create greater clarity for industry players to identify ESG fundamentals they value, "so that ESG is not just served for compliance, but becomes a sensible strategy to future-proof organisations with clear gains in the years ahead".
KPMG's investment, part of its ongoing multi-billion-dollar investment programme, will help form its new global ESG strategy. The firm had previously laid out its commitments on ESG themes in its plan, KPMG: Our Impact Plan.
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