PwC Australia appoints Janette O’Neill as its Chief Sustainability Officer

PwC Australia will welcome its Chief Sustainability Officer when experienced climate change and sustainability practitioner Janette O’Neill joins the firm next week.

In her new role, Ms O’Neill will provide leading expertise to PwC Australia clients as they respond to unprecedented and transformative shifts in environmental and social conditions, while also playing a key role in leading PwC Australia’s own sustainability agenda. Ms O’Neill will also become the firm’s Financial Services ESG lead, supporting clients in the sector.

She joins PwC Australia with a wealth of experience across the sustainability field, including in strategy, transformation, reporting, and people and culture. Ms O’Neill has been the Group Head of Sustainability at QBE Insurance since 2017. She has also worked across a broad range of financial services and energy organisations, as well as more than a decade with consultancies. Janette returns to the PwC network, having previously worked at PwC UK where she established its first Corporate Responsibility strategy and report.

“Organisations and governments are facing a wide range of complex, interconnected and disorderly ESG issues. Our ability to help clients bring clarity to that disorder, uniting a broad range of expertise, experience and technologies to solve seen and unseen problems, allows them to manage and mitigate risk whilst being a catalyst for environmental, social and economic prosperity,” said O’Neill.

“PwC Australia has made a choice to push the world forward, driving positive and meaningful change in all areas of its client work and firm-wide commitments. This role will contribute to that progress, helping our clients create shared value as they transition their organisations to meet commercial and societal expectations; and the firm, as we help them navigate that transition.”

PwC Australia’s appointment of a Chief Sustainability Officer is another key component of our landmark new global strategy, The New Equation, which responds to fundamental changes in the world, including technological disruption, climate change, social equity, fractured geopolitics, and the continuing impacts of COVID-19.

It focuses on two interconnected needs facing clients in the coming years: to build trust, and deliver sustained outcomes in an environment where competition and the risk of disruption are more intense than ever, and societal expectations have never been greater.

“We are delighted to welcome Janette to PwC Australia. Her appointment as our Chief Sustainability Officer is a critical part of our effort to build meaningful growth and value, for our clients and our firm, as we strive to deliver on our sustainability goals including global science-based climate targets of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030,” said PwC Chief Operating Officer and ESG Executive Liza Maimone.

“Through our client work and our firm-wide commitments, we are determined to contribute to the creation of a more sustainable and equitable Australia. Janette’s experience and expertise will make a significant impact on our ability to do that, helping us resolve some of our client’s most significant strategic, commercial and operational challenges.”

PwC’s global targets include reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent in absolute terms from 2019 levels by 2030, in line with a 1.5 degree scenario. Importantly, these targets go beyond scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, and also include PwC’s latest indirect scope 3 emissions.