KPMG has launched a dedicated learning platform designed to enable and educate business leaders on environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics.
The program, known as the KPMG ESG Academy, is offered together with Microsoft and some of the world’s leading universities and institutions. It leverages KPMG’s Learning Enablement and Analytics Platform (LEAP) and can be offered as a standalone virtual learning tool or can be integrated into clients’ in-house learning platforms.
The course is structured around the latest business thought leadership in ESG topics, with content developed by globally recognised ESG specialists from leading universities and institutions, in collaboration with KPMG subject matter professionals in sustainability.
The Academy aims to tackle one of the most significant challenges businesses face when integrating ESG into their business: a lack of understanding and the challenge of accessing information and insights, particularly in terms of ESG disclosure regulations.
“In my conversations with business leaders, I routinely hear that complexity, a lack of understanding, and the challenge of actually accessing information and insights are what’s holding them back on their ESG journey,” said John McCalla-Leacy, head of global ESG at KPMG International.
“The launch of the KPMG ESG Academy is about bringing that much-needed information together in one place to empower decision-makers to deliver positive change.”
The course comes at a crucial moment, as recent research from KPMG UK found that companies missing the mark on their ESG and sustainability initiatives may suffer as consumers are increasingly choosing to boycott companies caught misrepresenting their sustainability efforts, also known as greenwashing.
The Academy course content can be delivered to a range of roles, including executive-level leadership, mid-management, and/or non-management learners across varying levels of intensity: basic, comprehensive, and/or advanced ESG-focused training in specific topics of interest, such as circularity, reporting, and risk.
The KPMG ESG Academy joins a number of digital solutions KPMG and Microsoft have launched to support businesses on their ESG journey. Earlier this year, the two companies released the KPMG Circularity Tracker, a solution designed to automate data collection and benchmark them against a number of criteria for circularity performance.
“We’re proud to collaborate with KPMG on closing the skills gap. The KPMG ESG Academy, powered by the Microsoft Cloud, provides the knowledge and tools that corporate leaders and their teams need to build more sustainable businesses that meet today’s critical climate challenges and tomorrow’s,” said Shelly Blackburn, VP Cross Solutions at Microsoft.
