Strategy&'s Peter Gassmann leads PwC's global ESG practice

PwC has appointed the German Peter Gassmann as Global Head of its newly launched Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practice.

The global professional services firm launched the new division as part of its growing commitment to help “shape and accelerate the global climate and policy agenda”, said PwC’s Global Chairman Bob Moritz in a statement released earlier this month. 

The Environmental, Social and Governance practice provides clients with a range of offerings – from strategy to implementation – aimed at helping them improve their sustainability footprint. This includes developing sustainability strategies, decarbonising manufacturing, supply chains, procurement and other internal operations, reducing travel footprint and building a culture that foster a sustainable mindset.

The ESG practice combines specific expertise from across PwC’s main divisions. The Advisory practice for instance supports clients with insights about climate risks and opportunities as well as helping them to transform their business processes, while the Assurance practice among others helps them with integrating climate-related and other ESG-related factors into corporate disclosures, reporting and governance.

Meanwhile, PwC’s Tax wing helps clients understand how sustainability transformations impact tax strategy, transparency and compliance obligations, as well as subsidy and incentive opportunities. The Deals practice supports corporates, private equity houses and asset managers with incorporating ESG practices into their deals and portfolios.

One of the key offerings PwC is putting forward is its net zero transformation proposition, which helps private and public sector organisations with achieving a net zero carbon footprint – a key development in the face of global sustainability ambitions (e.g. Paris 2050) and the climate change crisis looming around the corner.

Taking its mandate one step further, the ESG practice will also seek to embed the implications of climate change and other ESG related factors across PwC’s other offerings, with the aim of injecting a sustainability focus in all the work conducted with clients. 

“With 284,000 people and a global reach across 157 countries support clients at every stage – the PwC network has a huge opportunity to accelerate the transition to a net zero future in collaboration with its clients. I am much looking forward to my new role,” said Peter Gassmann, who has been elected to helm the ESG practice.

Gassmann has been with Strategy& – PwC’s strategy consulting subsidiary following the acquisition of Booz & Company in 2014 – for over 15 years, and currently is the firm’s Managing Director for Europe and Global head of its Financial Services practice. Earlier in his career, Gassmann spent a decade outside of consulting, working for an investment bank in London and more recently as Global Head of Market & Operational Risk at Commerzbank.

The Strategy& executive specialises in finance strategy, risk, finance, treasury, regulation and capital management, and has over the years led multiple high-profile client engagements across Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. 

Meanwhile, Gassmann and his team will also play an important role in delivering PwC’s own net zero promise. On the back of a string of measures, the professional services giant has committed to net-zero by 2030.