Environmental Sustainability

We have a responsibility to help protect our planet.

Our strategy helps us minimize the impact our firm has on the environment.

McKinsey supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and promote global security. We are also participants in the UN Global Compact. We are continually strengthening our environmental policies and practices, which address reducing greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and water usage across our entire operation.

Through the work of our Sustainability Practice, we help organizations across the world to operate in a more productive, resource-efficient, and sustainable way.

We are carbon neutral.

Environment Sustainability

Greenhouse gas emissions, which come primarily from our travel, are the largest component of our environmental footprint. We rigorously monitor and independently verify our GHG emissions, following the GHG Protocol and best practices, such as including radiative forcing in emission factors for air travel. In 2018, our total GHG emissions were 787 ktCO2e (market based).

In 2018, we achieved Climate Neutral Company status, certified by South Pole. We became carbon neutral by taking the following measures:

Setting targets to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions

by 60 percent by 2030 and 90 percent by 2050 for direct emissions and purchased energy (Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions), in line with the level of decarbonization required to keep the global temperature increase below two degrees Celsius

Purchasing 100 percent renewable electricity

and joining the RE100 coalition of leading organizations committed to this goal—at the end of 2018, we were already purchasing 87 percent renewable electricity

Investing in high-quality carbon-reduction projects

to offset the emissions we cannot reduce—our portfolio of projects includes a broad range of geographies and technologies

Investing in carbon-reduction projects

To accelerate our transition to carbon neutrality, we invest in a diverse portfolio of carbon-reduction projects to offset the emissions we cannot yet reduce.

Our offset projects focus predominantly on forestry and land use, an issue selected by firm members through a firmwide poll. Beyond the carbon-reduction potential of these projects, firm members were inspired by the additional environmental, social, and economic benefits, such as safeguarded habitats for endangered species and new livelihoods for local communities. The environmental integrity of these projects is ensured by South Pole, a leading global provider of decarbonization solutions.

Explore our carbon-reduction projects

Our environmental practices

We continue to strengthen our environmental practices, including reducing travel through increased use of videoconferencing, addressing our waste footprint (for instance, through increased recycling), and locating offices in energy-efficient buildings. We seek high environmental standards for our offices. Almost half of our global office space has achieved green building certification. For new offices and major renovations, we target Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold or Platinum (or equivalent) certification. Already, nearly 30 percent of our global office space meets this standard.

Green Teams located in almost 70 offices across the world are driving 175+ local sustainability efforts, ranging from reducing waste to building environmental awareness.

We are also committed to working with our suppliers, clients, and other stakeholders to advance environmental sustainability. Our Supplier Code of Conduct sets out our expectations of our suppliers.

0

net carbon emissions

from 2018

87%

renewable electricity

with a commitment to reach 100% by 2025

90%

reduction

in Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions by 2050, 60% by 2030

Renewable electricity

In 2018, McKinsey became the first global consultancy to join RE100, a coalition of leading organizations committed to using 100 percent renewable electricity. We are working to ensure we meet our commitment by purchasing green tariffs from our utility providers and by working with our landlords where they provide the electricity in offices we lease. Where this is not possible, we will purchase energy attribute certificates, such as renewable energy certificates (RECs), equal to our consumption in those markets, to send a demand signal and support the development of renewable energy.

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