The global ESG head at Big Four player KPMG told ESG Insight this morning his firm is shifting its focus more and more on ESG-related policy issues and reporting requirements.
In fact, the professional services giant is making a major new push into ESG, according to John McCalla-Leacy, Head of UK and Global ESG at KPMG.
“ESG is at the forefront of our clients’ agendas,” said McCalla-Leacy, who practices into the Global and UK firm’s strategy and leads the delivery of ESG solutions, products and services to KPMG clients.
He revealed that KPMG, together with EBS University in Germany, has developed an exclusive ESG Expert training programme, which will be offered to its auditors and consultants across Europe, the Middle East and Africa region.
McCalla-Leacy said this includes around 700 colleagues supporting ESG in the UK, as part of its to focus on the ESG change agenda.
ESG training
The ESG training programme will be delivered online and focuses on essential environmental, social, and governance topics and how they relate to corporate strategy and business models.
“It will include analysis of ESG disclosure requirements and their role in delivering a sustainable future,” McCalla-Leacy said.
“We recognise that the talent of our people is crucial in supporting their success,” he noted.
“That is why our investment strategy has focused heavily on building and developing our ESG talent to deliver for our clients’ complex needs,” McCalla-Leacy explained.
He added that “this new and comprehensive training opportunity to all our ESG colleagues, we are reinforcing our ambition to become the leading professional services firm for ESG services in the market.”
Upon successful completion of the certificate programme, KPMG colleagues will be accredited with the title ‘ESG Expert (EBS)’, awarded by EBS University, one of the biggest private business universities in Germany.
The ESG Expert course is part of a wider programme of comprehensive training being offered to all 15,000 plus UK colleagues through a range of ESG fundamentals instructor led courses, a Leadership Upskill Series, and specialist technical training for our client facing ESG teams, McCalla-Leacy concluded.
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