Corporate responsibility

Our approach to sustainability is centered around EY’s purpose of building a better working world. Get insights into our ambitions, targets and policies.

Annual Report 2022/2023

Our long-term commitments include achieving net zero carbon emissions, increasing diversity, equity and inclusiveness in the workforce, and contributing to prosperity in the communities we operate in.

We organize our approach to sustainability around four pillars:

Principles of Governance

The insights and quality services EY delivers help build trust and confidence in businesses and the capital markets. We serve the public interest by delivering high-quality, analytics-driven audits based on independence, integrity, objectivity and professional skepticism.

The EY approach to business ethics and integrity is contained in the EY Global Code of Conduct and other policies. Our Code of Conduct provides a clear set of standards that guide our actions and business conduct.

EY strives to adhere to the highest ethical standards, including in relation to protecting human rights, upholding international labor standards, protecting the environment, and opposing bribery and corruption in all its forms.

We anchor anti-corruption measures across EY, and partners and employees are obliged to complete regular training, we help clients strengthen their integrity and compliance frameworks and cooperate with external networks and groups in the fight against corruption.

We are committed to integrating the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Ten Principles and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into EY strategy, culture and operations.

Our expectations concerning environment, human rights and social conditions extends to our suppliers who need to verify their adherence and standards according to our Supplier Code of Conduct.

Our Transparency report disclose our internal control systems, ethical values, how we execute our audits, quality routines and independence. Download

16.5 “Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms”

EY is committed to fighting corruption in all its forms and has implemented a global policy against bribery and corruption. We embed anti-corruption measures throughout EY, and all employees are required to complete annual training on this matter. An unwavering commitment to combating corruption is also built into the services we offer clients. The insights and quality services we deliver at EY help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and economies, and we help companies manage their anti-bribery and anti-corruption programs. To raise awareness of the fight against corruption, we also collaborate with external networks and groups.

Icon - target 16.5 - substantialy reduce corruption and bribery
Planet - table

EY has set targets to significantly reduce absolute emissions, and to remove or offset more carbon than we emit each year, making EY reach net zero by 2025.

We will reduce our absolute emissions by 40% across scopes 1, 2 and 3 against an FY19 baseline, consistent with a 1.5°c science-based target, approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

To reach our reduction targets, EY has globally defined seven actions including, reduction in business travel, reducing overall office electricity usage, and procuring 100% renewable energy for remaining needs, using nature-based solutions and carbon reduction technologies to remove from the atmosphere or offset more carbon than emitted, every year, providing EY teams with tools to calculate, then work to reduce, the amount of carbon emitted in carrying out client work, requiring that our largest suppliers have set science based targets, investing in EY services and solutions that help clients create value from decarbonizing their businesses and provide solutions to other sustainability challenges and opportunities.

7.3. “By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency”

At EY, we aim to be more energy efficient by reducing our absolute GHG emissions across scopes 1, 2 and 3 by 40% by reducing business travel, mainly by air, and energy consumption and waste in our offices.

Icon - target 7.3 - double the improvement in energy efficiency

12.6. “Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle”

At EY, we aim to accelerate our clients and suppliers’ sustainability journeys. In addition, we integrate sustainability information into our reporting cycle, and we work consistently to adopt sustainable practices in our organization as part of our global seven-point action plan to reach net-zero in FY25. 

Icon - target 12.6 - encourage companies to adopt sustainable practices and sustainability reporting
Table - People

EY brings together extraordinary people to build a better working world. Their growth in knowledge, prosperity, well-being and equal opportunities for all is central to the success of our organization.

At the core, we strive to provide our people with exceptional experiences by:

  • Welcoming diverse teams were everyone feels a sense of belonging.
  • Fostering an inclusive environment mindful of our people’s health and well-being.
  • Developing our people’s skills and competencies for the future.

In EY, we are deeply committed to creating an environment where differences are not only accepted but are truly valued. With a diverse workforce, we are better equipped to utilize the power of different opinions, perspectives and cultural references, which will help us set the highest performing teams. We see diversity and inclusiveness as vital to our business success and continued growth.

5.5 ”Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life”.

We work to ensure gender equality at all levels in the organization, and especially focus on greater gender balance on leadership level in EY. Several activities are in place already, including global and local mentoring programs, unconscious bias training, and strengthened efforts around parental leave, and we are implementing more initiatives. We aim to ensure that our activities promote our talent pool to become even more diverse and better balanced.

Icon - target 5.5 - ensure full participation in leadership and decision making

10.2 “By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status”

EY works to ensure diversity, equity and inclusiveness for all our people. We strive to offer all employees equal opportunities in recruitment and selection, development and promotion. Our goal is for all employees to feel appreciated, respected and fairly treated with appropriate compensation and good benefits. Our actions include inclusiveness training, unconscious bias training, network programs and much more. We aim to ensure our people feel included and free to be themselves. Our responsibility to respect human rights also extends beyond our direct operations to our supply chains. We try to actively monitor our suppliers’ work with human rights.

Icon - target 10.2 - promote universal social, economic and political inclusion
Table - Prosperity

A company’s value is increasingly reflected in the off-balance sheet intangible assets and value drivers associated with economic and social prosperity.

Through the EY Ripples program, we extend the value of EY knowledge and networks to people and places we might not otherwise reach. It empowers EY people to devote their time to SDG-focused projects that apply their skills in different contexts and help them develop as more inclusive leaders with a deeper understanding of the challenges facing communities across the world. As more and more EY people learn to appreciate the social value of the skills they use every day, so creating long-term value for society becomes more deeply embedded in our culture.

Together with clients and other like-minded organizations, EY people use their distinctive skills to bring positive change across three focus areas: 

4.4. ”By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship”.

We work to increase the number of young people with relevant skills for employment and entrepreneurship, especially through our EY Ripples program. Here EY people volunteer their time and skills to mentor students and vulnerable young people and offer guidance for young start-ups as well as give feedback and coaching to students with a passion for entrepreneurship.

Icon - target 4.4 - increase the number of people with relevant skills for financial succes

8.2 ”Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labor-intensive sectors”.

EY works long term to strengthen quality, enhance efficiency and create transformative opportunities for sectors and businesses through a clear focus on investments in innovation, technology and AI-enabled solutions. We aim to invest US$ 10 billion globally from 2021 towards 2024 on audit quality, strategy, technology and people. 

Icon - target 8.2 - diversify, innovate and upgrade for economic productivity

Footsteps on the beach. Tropical climate.



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