Business travel reduction via internal carbon price and digital substitution
Business travel is the largest Scope 3 source at 244,987 tCO2e in FY25. Accenture has implemented an internal carbon price on travel, uses Microsoft Teams (17B+ audio minutes, 4B+ video minutes in FY25) to substitute travel, deploys an aviation carbon calculator and Travel Smart Toolkit, and emphasizes rail over air where practical.
Sustainable IT and sustainable AI
Cloud-first IT operations, centralised device energy management, data-driven device refresh program to extend lifecycles. Co-founder of Green Software Foundation. In FY25, built a generative AI carbon calculator and dashboard to measure and right-size AI model emissions, and created role-based Sustainable Software/AI training.
Office energy efficiency
Office electricity efficiency was 134 kWh/m² in FY25 (vs 123 in FY24, 109 in FY23). Smart meter rollout expanded in FY25 to improve data collection and energy management decisions. ISO 14001 certified across 100+ locations globally.
Electric vehicle fleet transition in leased car portfolio (Scope 1 reduction)
Accenture is transitioning its leased car fleet to electric vehicles, with Scope 1 car travel representing 16,076 tCO2e in FY2024 (the largest Scope 1 source). In Belgium and Netherlands, electric cars increased 34% from FY2023, abating an estimated 3,815 tCO2e in FY2024. The company plans to continue scaling EV fleet adoption. Total Scope 1 emissions of 22,395 tCO2e represent an 89% reduction vs FY2019 base year of 19,922 tCO2e (with the Scope 1+2 combined 89% reduction primarily driven by renewable electricity).
Business travel reduction via internal carbon price and digital tools
Accenture has implemented an internal carbon price on travel to encourage climate-smart travel decisions. The firm is one of the largest enterprise users of Microsoft Teams—using more than 17 billion minutes of audio and 3 billion minutes of video calls in FY24. Tools include an aviation carbon calculator, analytics that compare rail vs. air emissions, and a climate-smart travel toolkit. Business travel emissions still rose to 240,963 tCO2e in FY24 (+23% YoY) as client work resumed.
Business travel reduction via digital collaboration tools and internal carbon price
Business travel (Cat 6) is the largest Scope 3 category by absolute emissions. Accenture leverages digital collaboration tools (it is one of the largest enterprise users of Microsoft Teams globally) to meet client needs without physical travel where possible, reducing emissions. An internal carbon fee of $30/tCO2e is applied to ~99% of Scope 3 Cat 6 business travel, creating a financial disincentive for unnecessary travel. An aviation carbon calculator highlights emissions differences between flights to inform booking decisions. These measures contributed to Cat 6 emissions declining from a 690,982 tCO2e base year (FY2019) to 240,963 tCO2e in FY2024, a ~65% reduction. Rail travel is exempt from the carbon fee to encourage greener modal choices.
Office energy efficiency + smart meters
Office energy consumption was 345,860 MWh in FY24. The firm continues to drive energy efficiency, expanding use of smart meters in FY24 to increase speed of data collection and provide analytic insights for energy management decisions. Accenture's Environment Management System is ISO 14001 certified globally with more than 100 locations in scope.
Office energy efficiency and renewable electricity procurement
Accenture's most significant operational emissions arise from Scope 2 electricity at its facilities. The firm achieved and maintained 100% renewable electricity procurement across all global offices. Additionally, Accenture is expanding smart meters globally to improve speed of data collection and analytics for energy management decisions. Electricity efficiency (kWh/m2) increased from 109 in FY2023 to 123 kWh/m2 in FY2024 as absolute MWh consumption decreased, reflecting portfolio optimization. Total office energy consumption was 345,860 MWh in FY2024, resulting in only 3,584 tCO2e market-based Scope 2 emissions.
Office energy decarbonisation via smart metering and renewable electricity procurement
Accenture's largest operational emission source is Scope 2 electricity in leased offices. The firm achieved 100% renewable electricity by end of FY2023 through a hierarchy of physical PPAs, green tariffs and EACs across 50+ countries. In parallel, Accenture expanded smart meter deployment in FY2023 to accelerate energy data collection and optimise energy management. Natural gas usage in offices also declined year-on-year. These actions drove an 89% reduction in combined Scope 1+2 emissions from the FY2019 base year.
Fleet electrification reducing Scope 1 car travel emissions
Accenture continued scaling electric vehicles in its leased car fleets in Belgium and the Netherlands in FY2023, achieving a 130% increase in electric cars in these two countries versus FY2022. This expansion abated an estimated 2,299 tCO2e of Scope 1 emissions in FY2023. Further actions on leased cars are identified as a lever to reduce the firm's relatively small Scope 1 emissions going forward.
Business travel reduction through digital collaboration and internal carbon price
Business travel (Scope 3 Cat 6, 195,246 tCO2e in FY2023) is one of Accenture's largest emission categories. The firm is one of the world's largest enterprise users of Microsoft Teams, enabling client delivery without physical travel. An internal carbon price of $30/tCO2 is applied to approximately 98% of Scope 3 Cat 6 emissions to incentivise climate-smart booking decisions; an aviation carbon calculator provides real-time emissions differentials between flight options. Rail travel is exempt from the carbon fee as a strategically preferred alternative. Accenture is also a signatory to the WEF Clean Skies for Tomorrow pledge, committing to purchase sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Office electricity efficiency and smart meters
Accenture continues to drive energy efficiency across its leased office portfolio, expanding use of smart meters in FY2023 for faster data collection and analytic insights to inform energy management decisions. Office electricity intensity is 109 kWh/sqm in FY23.
Green IT and cloud carbon management
Cloud-first approach with a CO2 calculator embedded in the Intelligent Cloud Management Dashboard to estimate public cloud energy consumption and carbon emissions. Embedded Green Software best practices and design principles into software development lifecycle in FY23; offering optional extended laptop refresh cycles to reduce e-waste; trained 78,000+ technology practitioners in green software fundamentals. Founding member of the Green Software Foundation.
Business travel reduction via internal carbon price and climate-smart booking
Business travel is one of Accenture's most significant Scope 3 sources. They implemented an internal carbon price on travel to encourage climate-smart decisions, use analytics to estimate travel emissions, encourage rail over air where practical, deploy an aviation carbon calculator at booking, and provide a climate-smart travel toolkit. Accenture is one of the largest enterprise users of Microsoft Teams (19B audio minutes, 2B video minutes in FY23) to substitute for travel.
Business travel reduction through digital collaboration and internal carbon pricing
Accenture, one of the world's largest enterprise users of Microsoft Teams, has structurally reduced business travel by embedding digital-first client delivery. An internal carbon price of $30/tCO2e is applied globally to air travel, hotel stays and ground travel to disincentivise carbon-intensive behaviour, fund sustainability investments and shift behaviour. An aviation carbon calculator highlights emissions differences between flights at booking. Business travel emissions in FY2022 were 129,404 tCO2e—less than half pre-pandemic FY2020 levels (339,459 tCO2e). Accenture also engages with travel suppliers (airlines, hotels, car rental) to obtain per-trip emissions data and explore decarbonisation of travel categories.
Office energy efficiency and renewable electricity procurement
Accenture manages office energy through its ISO 14001-certified EMS across 70+ key sites, deploying smart meters to enable real-time energy data collection and management. Electricity intensity was 98 kWh/m² in FY2022 (up slightly from 93 in FY2021 due to post-pandemic office return). Total energy consumption was 330,386 MWh. The step-change in Scope 1+2 performance—down 91% from the 2016 baseline—was primarily driven by renewable electricity purchases rather than absolute energy reduction, with 97% of office electricity from renewables in FY2022. The company also scaled electric vehicle fleet use (Belgium, Netherlands, UK), abating an estimated 1,648 tCO2e in Scope 1 from car travel.
Employee commuting management
Beginning in FY2022, Accenture separately discloses Scope 3 Category 7 employee commuting, calculated via a spend-based method (84% of emissions from supplier data). FY2022 commuting emissions were 26,055 tCO2e, reduced from 48,725 tCO2e in FY2019 partly due to the shift to hybrid working. Where telecommute electricity expenses are reimbursed, IEA country-level factors are applied. The electric vehicle fleet expansion (122% increase in Belgium, Netherlands and UK) supports both Scope 1 and commuting decarbonisation.
Cloud migration and IT infrastructure decarbonisation
Accenture completed its journey to the cloud in fiscal 2022, migrating all applications from on-premise to cloud, phasing out workstations in favour of laptops at Technology Centers, and reducing reliance on physical infrastructure. Accenture estimates average on-premise to cloud migration drives 60%+ energy reduction and 80%+ carbon emission reduction. Cloud-related services represented ~$26bn (42%) of FY2022 revenue. An internal tool, myNav, enables clients to model sustainability impacts of cloud migration scenarios; each workload migrated from on-premise to Microsoft Azure generates an estimated 2.54 tCO2e of avoided emissions.
Business travel reduction via analytics and modal shift
Business travel makes up a significant part of Accenture's carbon emissions. In fiscal 2019, the firm accelerated efforts to reduce travel intensity by applying analytics to travel data, matching client needs with local staff and using collaborative technology. Achieved 1.7% reduction in per-person travel-related CO2 and 3.2% reduction per-revenue. In France, booking tools were reconfigured to prioritize train trips under 3.5 hours over flights, with similar options being investigated in Germany.
E-waste circularity and food waste reduction
Accenture streamlined its IT asset disposition to two global suppliers for improved oversight. In India, partnered with Feeding India Foundation to divert unsold office cafeteria food, distributing 100,000 meals across 26 facilities. In the US, converting 35,000+ American Express corporate cards to a Corporate Green Card made from 70% reclaimed ocean plastic.
Office energy efficiency and cloud-first IT
Accenture advances energy efficiency across its real estate portfolio and cloud network. In fiscal 2019, office electricity CO2 emissions were reduced by 5,000 metric tons, achieving 5% improvement over prior year. 95% of applications have moved off premise to more energy-efficient locations. Shifted toward virtual servers, more efficient platforms, and laptops at Accenture Technology Centers.
Energy-efficient transportation / EV fleet
In Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, Accenture is transitioning diesel and gas fleet vehicles to electric and increasing public transportation use. A Mobility Awareness Program provides monthly carbon footprint reports, allows bike financing from pre-tax salary, provides per-km cycling allowances, and runs summer e-bike commute pilots.
Business travel reduction via virtual collaboration
Travel is one of Accenture's two largest emissions sources. In FY2018, the firm avoided 37,000 more metric tons of CO2 from air travel vs FY2017 (~10% year-over-year reduction) and achieved a 14% per-person travel-related CO2 reduction. The seventh annual Travel Smart Challenge avoided 32,000 flights, 4 million car miles, and ~14,000 tons CO2e while saving US$22M. A Smart Spending data lake provides analytics to reshape travel behaviors.
Office energy efficiency
Accenture achieved >6% improvement in energy efficiency in FY2018. Since FY2010 the firm has saved 1.57M MWh, 857,000 tons CO2, and US$207M in energy savings. Locations such as Turin (60% electrical load decrease via LED retrofits, daylight sensors, motion detectors) and Madrid (Intelligent Climate Platform pilot delivering up to 20% energy savings) demonstrate the approach.
Business travel reduction via virtual collaboration
Air travel accounts for ~49% of total emissions. Continued investment in virtual collaboration technology and energy-eficient behaviors reduced per-employee air travel CO2 by ~4% vs FY16. Skype for Business at hyperscale (300M+ audio and 36M+ video minutes/month), 19 pop-in broadcast studios, and 3,000 live-streamed events in FY17. Annual Travel Smart Challenge over six years avoided ~18,700 flights, saving US$13.8M and 9,700 metric tons CO2.
Energy-efficient ground transport in India
Deployed 50 electric cabs across two Bengaluru locations running on 100% green power, covering 2.1M km in FY17. Natural-gas transport covered 65M km (~20% of distance covered by Accenture-provided vehicles). Avoided ~3,000 metric tons CO2 in FY17.
Office electricity efficiency
Energy efficiency improved 8% over FY16 and 37% vs FY07 baseline, saving >1.2M MWh and >700,000 metric tons CO2 cumulatively, with >$160M in energy savings since 2007. FY17 saw ~20,000 metric tons CO2 reduction from office electricity. New energy-management platform with 650+ smart meters in 38 buildings across 14 countries; electronically commutated fans piloted in Bengaluru with anticipated $1M+ annual savings.
