PwC increases ESG offer with launch of sustainability centre

PwC Singapore has opened a new sustainability centre, in a bid to help clients across APAC achieve their ESG goals.

This launch of The Asia Pacific Centre for Sustainability Excellence (CSE) is part of the consulting firm’s US$50m five-year investment in line with its global strategy, The New Equation. This in turn is part of PwC’s US$12bn pivot towards ESG services and other future-focused priorities, designed in response to technological disruption, climate change, fractured geopolitics, and the continuing effects of the pandemic.

PwC’s centre will help firms transition to low-carbon future

Supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), the new centre will provide multi-disciplinary solutions to companies as they transition to a low-carbon future. 

The centre will serve to support regional organisations with their capability development and decarbonisation efforts, as well as in climate risk, sustainable finance, and sustainability reporting. “We want to support businesses and communities in transitioning to a more sustainable and low-carbon future,” says Fang Eu-Lin, ESG Leader, PwC Singapore, who also leads the Centre. 

Furthermore, it will support the city-state of Singapore as a vibrant hub of sustainability and carbon services. 

As part of Singapore’s growth as a vibrant hub for sustainability and carbon services, the centre will “enable many new innovations and help Singapore achieve new heights in sustainability excellence on the world stage”, explains PwC Singapore’s executive chairman Marcus Lam. 

Upskilling and capacity building 

A further feature of PwC’s investment and the new centre is in ESG upskilling, both internally to its own staff and externally via workshops delivered to regional organisations in collaboration with Enterprise Singapore. These workshops will help enterprises to build greater awareness and knowledge of sustainability. 

“One of the objectives of the Asia Pacific Centre for Sustainability Excellence will be to help build capacity in the ecosystem by enabling organisations to upskill their people in ESG and empower them with the necessary knowledge,” says Fang Eu-Lin.

“We will lead by upskilling all of our 3,500 people, to build an ESG consciousness in their DNA, giving them a strong foundation to understand and confront ESG issues as climate and sustainability issues and regulations intensify.”

PwC unveils Low Carbon Network

Simultaneously, PwC has unveiled the Singapore Low Carbon Network, in support of the Singapore Green Plan 2030, a platform aiming to bring together enterprises and organisations across the city-state with ambitions to decarbonise. 

Set to meet four times a year over the next two years, the network will aim to advance the sharing of best practices and insights on key carbon measurement and decarbonisation topics based on the member organisations’ needs. Among the network’s organisation members are OCBC Bank, Swiss Re, Sembcorp Industries, Frasers Property, Keppel Corporation, UOB and ST Engineering.