Nature and biodiversity

2023 Global Impact Report

Building better futures

Biodiversity—the rich variety of living things on Earth—is crucial for healthy ecosystems and a healthy planet. However, much of the world’s biodiversity is at risk due to climate change, human consumption, and other impacts on nature—that is, the physical world including plants, animals, the landscape, oceans, and other features of the earth. According to the World Economic Forum, 50% of global GDP is dependent on nature. This means disruptions to the Earth’s ecosystems could affect our current way of life. It also means that organizations have an important role to play in protecting nature. 

In translating our environmental ambitions into action, Deloitte considers environmental matters widely, including examining our impact on nature and biodiversity. Our organization supports nature-positive solutions and is assessing impacts throughout our value chain.  

Accelerating our efforts 

To help address and mitigate our organization’s impacts, we are developing a global nature and biodiversity strategy. Deloitte also continues to accelerate our efforts to support nature and biodiversity in the areas of real estate and purchased goods and services. 

We are taking a closer look at our real estate around the world—analyzing our buildings and choices for fit-outs, furnishings, and other elements—to identify opportunities to minimize impacts on nature. In addition, we are evaluating practices across our Deloitte University facilities to provide recommendations on operational and behavioral changes to help protect nature and biodiversity. 

Deloitte is addressing our supply chain impacts and implementing measures to promote a sustainable, circular economy. This includes seeking to promote positive nature impacts through more responsible choices. As part of this effort, we launched Products with Purpose, a catalog of branded promotional items that adhere to a set of sustainable supply chain guidelines, including impacts to nature.  

Taking action around the world 

Deloitte firms are advancing a number of initiatives to help protect complex environments and address the particular risks to biodiversity in their regions, including:

• Deloitte Australia owns and manages The Deloitte Carbon Forests, properties that are designed and managed to deliver benefits for biodiversity and local communities, allow for agricultural production, and strengthen Traditional Custodian relationships. Deloitte Australia collaborated with environmental organizations and with Indigenous leaders to help deliver these benefits. The selection for planting focuses on local native species and aims to support the generation of co-benefits, such as biodiversity outcomes, Traditional Custodian engagement and procurement, and dedicated areas for continued agricultural production.
• The Deloitte Forest project, led by Deloitte Brazil, aims to plant 15,000 seedlings per year through FY2030 in the Atlantic Forest and supports the recovery of basins’ and sub-basins’ watersheds. 
• Deloitte Canada is the first and only professional services firm contributing to the Great Bear Forest Carbon Project, supporting an Indigenous-led, nature-based climate solution that enhances local economic development and employment through community-led guardian initiatives. Revenue from the sale of carbon credits helps enable the communities to protect old-growth forests that are designated for harvest, to secure valuable carbon stores, and to safeguard biodiversity. 
• Deloitte Netherlands and Deloitte Dutch Caribbean are supporting the reforestation of mangrove forests in Curaçao.  
• Deloitte India is working with a nonprofit organization to conserve and support the nesting habitat of Olive Ridley turtles in Chennai, as well as teaming up with another nonprofit to conduct beach cleanups in Mumbai. 

This past April, Deloitte people from around the world came together to celebrate Earth Month and take action, especially around nature and biodiversity. For example: 

• Deloitte Bermuda people helped clean up a local coral reef, removing trash and other debris and helping to protect the biodiversity of their local ecosystem. 
• Deloitte Kenya, Deloitte Tanzania, Deloitte Canada, and other Deloitte firms across our global Deloitte network participated in reforestation and/or forest care volunteer opportunities.
• Deloitte Costa Rica built pollinator gardens to encourage butterflies, bees, and other pollinators to visit. 

The collective power of individual choices 

As a global organization with approximately 457,000 people around the world, we understand how individual choices can add up to powerful collective action. We help raise awareness and inspire action with internal webinars such as “Know nature. Boost biodiversity,” which focuses on biodiversity impacts and how each of us can help. World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF’s) “What is biodiversity?” and other collaborative educational opportunities provide further insights to Deloitte people and showcase examples of how protecting wildlife around the world can benefit local environments. 

Helping clients prioritize nature 

We support Deloitte clients in their efforts to assess their impact and prioritize nature and biodiversity. This includes sharing insights and actionable guidance from throughout our organization, such as:

• Banking on natural capital, a report on unlocking the value of nature and actions that can be taken to work towards a nature-positive future;
• Climate-nature nexus: Expanding finance from climate to nature, a webinar on integrating climate- and nature-related risks; 
• How global nature targets are relevant to business, a blog on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the targets it sets out for protecting and restoring global biodiversity, and three key considerations for businesses; 
• Nature and biodiversity, a podcast exploring what “nature risk” is, how it relates to climate risk, and what businesses should be doing to prepare for nature-related regulation; and 
• Nature is next: Towards integrating nature-related risks in the Dutch Financial sector, an article on how financial institutions can learn about and engage with nature-related risks.