ESG: a world of opportunities for Tax, Legal and People

What does this mean for you?

Tax, Legal and People as foundational drivers for the business

As interest in ESG issues is accelerating, we are seeing a fundamental shift in the way in which businesses operate and how their corporate agendas are shaped. Once the responsibility of a single department, sustainability now touches every part of a business. PwC analysis has found that 60% of CEOs believe that environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues will be a long-term investment priority over the next three years.

November 2021

Amal Larhlid speaks about ESG and tax

View Transcript

Tax within the ESG landscape is key to shaping how government can incentivise businesses to meet sustainability goals in the long-term and progress towards net-zero and a greener future. Tax as an ESG metric can bring value to the business and enhance a company’s reputation.

	Challenges	How we can help
E	New environmental taxes (e.g. plastic packaging and carbon taxes) Changing regulatory environment (e.g. extended producer responsibility) Waste and water management Significant weather events Resource scarcity Post COVID-19 sustainable growth	Green grants mapping and application support R&D incentives for clean technology innovations Carbon trading and reporting Capital allowances for clean capital expenditures Decommissioning grants Sustainable finance Economic assessment of tax policies
S	Human rights Employee health, safety and wellbeing Labour practices and talent management Workplace diversity and inclusion	Diversity and inclusion Pensions advice on sustainable investment Sustainable business travel Climate related KPIs and reward setting
G	Strategy and risk management Executive pay Bribery and corruption Tax reporting and stakeholder communication	Tax strategy and tax transparency Tax function design and tax control framework implementation Alignment of business model, executive and workforce incentives to ESG goals

Our four pillars approach

Sustainable value creation

Being invested in ways that not only generate returns here and now, but also create sustainable value for the future. Tax, Legal and People play a key role in ensuring that the business is sustainable and will bring long-term value - a value that lasts and has a positive societal impact.

Reporting and assurance

Building trust begins by establishing a clear picture of where you are today and making sure you have the information that stakeholders now expect from you. The world changes at an incredible pace and our team of specialists have the experience of filtering out the noise. In a world where ESG is a significant source of potential value, reporting and assurance is fundamental to success.

Sustainable transformation

From your tax strategy to the cultural shift with your people & organisation, we’ll help you define the path that leads to success, making ESG fundamental and a way of creating value in every part of your organisation and the way you do business.

A fair transition

Fairness must be central to any transformation - and Tax, Legal and People will help you maximise your positive impact, by putting fairness at the heart of your transformation. We can help you see how you can move from acceptable to best in class - and how you can make sure your values and purpose are embedded across your own workforce and throughout the wider supply chain.

How can we help?

ESG initiatives go beyond just doing the right thing. They can improve society’s perceptions of the company, build competitive positioning, and increase market value. A well-executed and well-communicated ESG strategy can create intrinsic value by appropriately managing key risks and cultivating opportunities. If a company is transparent about how it is addressing stakeholder ESG interests, market value can increase over time.

We can support businesses and policymakers by offering solutions and advice on the following key areas:

Global Fiscal Policy

Developing, improving and unpacking every aspect of fiscal and tax policy to achieve improved economic growth. This includes raising revenues, better public spending and enhancing the business climate.

People & Organisation

Ensuring Purpose and ESG strategy is fully embedded across, executive and workforce incentives and recognition, culture and behaviours, the employee offering, recruitment brand, new ways of working, diversity & inclusion, gender and executive pay gap, and pension offerings.

Incentives, Grants & Renewables

Advice to ensure you are benefiting from the full range of green grants, reliefs and credits available, including Research and development (R&D) tax credit and patent box.

Environmental Taxes and Disputes

Support with understanding the scope of new and existing taxes, how they affect the business, assist with business development and implementation of systems and controls necessary for compliance and help bridge gaps between sustainability, operational and commercial teams.

Tax Transparency & Reporting

Support with a number of reporting frameworks (Global Reporting Initiative 207 - Tax, World Economic Forum’s International Business Council, Total Tax Contribution - TTC, Tax Control Framework and Tax Strategy), tax rate and transparency benchmarking, collection of the TTC data and reasonableness review. Download our recent flyer on TCFD and Tax in the link shown above.

Legal and Transfer Pricing

Helping businesses to identify and harness the opportunities arising from changing environmental and sustainability regulation, ensuring that the company is ready to achieve full compliance.

Our team provides commercial and market-focussed advice to businesses in a range of sectors, including in particular manufacturing businesses, energy and waste companies, oil and gas operators and construction companies.