BDO produces firm’s first sustainability report

BDO USA LLP unveiled its initial sustainability report Monday, highlighting areas where it has made progress in its environmental, social and governance efforts.

The report focuses on the firm’s initiatives during fiscal year 2022, between May 1, 2021 and April 30, 2022. Among them, BDO launched a Center of Excellence dedicated to sustainability and ESG and created an ESG Leadership team to oversee its sustainability strategies.

The Top 10 Firm said it completed a full greenhouse gas inventory including Scopes 1, 2 and 3, which includes inventorying not only its own emissions, but also its vendors, electricity and energy suppliers, and other indirect upstream and downstream emissions. The firm signed the United Nations Global Compact, a voluntary initiative based on CEO commitments to implement universal sustainability principles.

BDO’s goal is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and halve its emissions by 2030. BDO professionals served in leadership roles for nearly 500 nonprofit organizations. 

The firm has committed to developing a responsible sourcing program, while putting systems in place to ensure that a significant portion of the firm’s suppliers share its environmental and social values and commitments.

“At BDO, we have made sustainability and ESG one of the five strategic imperatives that drive our business strategy,” said BDO USA CEO Wayne Berson in a statement. “The publication of this report not only shares the  foundational work we have done to date, but also details our efforts to define the kind of organization we want to be in the future. We are building a business that lasts — a business that fulfills our firm’s purpose of helping people thrive, every day.” 

BDO has been developing a sustainability and ESG learning strategy to better understand how ESG factors affect the firm’s business and that of its clients. It has been growing its community engagement efforts and its long-standing BDO Counts volunteerism program while formalizing a firmwide social impact strategy that aligns employee passions with BDO’s purpose. BDO professionals served in leadership roles for nearly 500 nonprofit organizations and fed nearly 50,000 community members during BDO’s semiannual Weeks of Service across the U.S. The firm has also been focusing on candidate attraction, candidate selection, employee experience and success, and transparency to shape its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. BDO hosted over 200 inclusion activities with more than 10,500 participants in fiscal year 2022.

“We believe the future of business is sustainable — and that the private sector plays an important role in helping achieve the milestones that are so critical for our society and our planet,” said Christopher Tower, managing partner of sustainability and ESG at BDO, in a press release. “By embracing this mindset today, BDO will benefit from increased opportunities for value creation, risk mitigation and greater overall resilience tomorrow. While our journey is still unfolding, I’m proud of the work reflected within this inaugural report and the impactful commitments we have made.”