Steve Varley

As EY Global Senior Advisor, Steve brings over three decades experience of business leadership in EY at national and international level.

Previously as EY Global Vice Chair for Sustainability from 2020-23, Steve led EY’s sustainability and climate change strategy and launched the organization’s carbon ambition seven-point plan. This was a first for the industry in targeting a 40% reduction in absolute GHG emissions by 2025 across scope 1, 2 and 3, against a 2019 baseline. Since 2021, EY has been carbon negative, reducing and removing more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits.

Before his role of EY Global Vice Chair for Sustainability, Steve was EY UK&I Regional Managing Partner and Chair of EY UK, leading the US$3.5b business and its 17,000 employees for nine years. Driving an inclusive and green growth strategy, revenues doubled from £1.3b in FY11 to £2.6, in FY20 and more than 8000 jobs were created.

How Steve is building a better working world

Steve’s strong consulting experience enables him to help companies and governments convene around common goals.

During Steve’s time as EY UK&I Regional Managing Partner and Chair of EY UK, he was a member of the Business Advisory Group to Prime Ministers David Cameron and Theresa May and was the UK Government’s Business Ambassador for the professional services industry.

In his role as Global Vice Chair of Sustainability, Steve’s focus on creating value from sustainability and supporting companies in accelerating their transition to a lower carbon future was pivotal in his role as founding co-chair of the S30, a group of 30 Chief Sustainability Officers from some of the world’s leading businesses. The S30 was launched in 2020 in collaboration with the Sustainable Markets Initiative, a leading global sustainability program which has been championed by His Majesty King Charles III.