PwC US’s first National Environmental ScopeAthon delivers quick fire problem solving to nonprofits
A national ScopeAthon took place in July, 2021 helping address thirteen environment-focused nonprofits' most pressing challenges.
Warming temperatures = act now and accelerate adaptation
Not one element of life on earth is immune to the change in climate. The evidence is clear that the warming of our planet is threatening existing life. Every part of society needs to take courageous action now to mitigate the loss and damage, significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate investment in adaptation to help both nature and humanity build a sustainable future.
A global survey by the World Economic Forum found that more than half of adults surveyed said climate change has already had a severe impact on their part of the world. More than seven in ten expect climate change will have a severe effect in their area over the next 10 years.¹
As temperatures change, sea levels rise and extreme weather events become more frequent, we all have a role to play to help both humans and nature adapt. For communities living in urban areas, adapting to climate change means we need to look at where we live and the way we plan and adapt our cities and infrastructure. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), more than 170 countries have included adaptation into their climate policies and planning. However, at the current rate of planning and implementation, gaps in the ability to adapt will continue to grow. The report also states that in cities, the poorest 20% of the population face an even larger gap compared to that of the wealthiest. The quicker and further emissions fall, the more scope there is for people and nature to adapt.²
“Reaching net zero, a state in which our global systems emit only as much carbon as they can absorb, will be the biggest collective action humanity has ever undertaken.”
Aligned to PwC’s global commitment Net Zero by 2030, PwC US is helping businesses and communities transition to a net zero future. Whilst globally we need to make this transition to a low carbon future, we cannot ignore the potential impacts to communities as we transition. PwC US’s team is committed to helping address racism and inequality in society and are taking into account how the net zero transition may exacerbate these issues. They are looking at ways to help those in our communities who are already most adversely impacted by climate change adapt.
¹World Economic Forum website. D, Broom, 15 Sep, 2022. This is how much people around the world think climate change is impacting their lives.Opens in a new window
²Intergovernmental Panel Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report. 28 February, 2022. FAQ4:How are people adapting to the effects of climate change and what are the known limits to adaptation.Opens in a new window
How tech empowered and human led action can enable just and equitable transition for the environment and society
During 2022 PwC US has been working with not-for-profit Arbor Day Foundation to help plant more trees in urban communities that are either lacking in access to community green spaces or have been deprived of these regenerative ecosystems through city planning, disease, damage and deforestation.
It’s well known that biodiversity and access to nature provides enormous benefits to human health and wellbeing, not to mention the management of urban heat and air quality; however not all parts of society are equal in having easy access to these benefits.
PwC US’s collaboration with the Arbor Day Foundation addresses this by using a geospatial tool that can help determine the quality and quantity of natural elements for a location as well as nature’s impact to help improve health and well-being. The tool uses big-data and machine learning to produce a score that planners can use to create, maintain and improve access to nature. This tool helps to identify hot spot areas in urban spaces across the US that the Arbor Day Foundation then targets for tree planting coordination with the local community.
A pilot programme was launched on Earth Day 2022 with a desire to engage PwC US people to take action to support environmental equity as well as build our people’s confidence and ability to have conversations with our own stakeholders about the ways in which we can take action. Within the first six months, the PwC Environmental Inclusion Network completed three planting sessions with three more planned for the future. The mature trees to be planted are fully funded by PwC US and our people are the power behind getting the trees into the ground through coordinated volunteering.
Access to green spaces, increased socio-economic and environmental outcomes
By late 2022 six tree planting sessions were undertaken across the United States in San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, Detroit, Queens NY and Los Angeles. Each tree planting session is more just getting trees in the ground: engagement and involvement with the local community is built into the planning to help the communities feel a sense of ownership and responsibility to care for these spaces creating a sustainable future.
In total:
- 280 mature trees have been planted
- 108 PwC US volunteers have rolled up their sleeves to help
- 157 members of the six communities have also been involved
Queens, NY
Elmhurst Park, once an eyesore and traffic landmark, reopened in 2011 as a community greenspace. The park is an essential part of the community featuring jogging paths, seating, comfort stations, safety lighting, a playground and home to a Veterans’ Memorial. It is bound by an expressway and railroad tracks limiting the amount of green space available to local residents.
Elmhurst is one of the most ethnically diverse communities in the United States and is home to a large percentage of hospital staff and other frontline workers. As a neighborhood, Elmhurst is designated as having a high (4/5) Heat Vulnerability Index (HVI)¹. HVI is a way to measure neighborhoods that are the most at risk during extreme heat. Factors that define HVI include percentage of residents receiving public assistance, racial demographics, average surface temperature, and percentage of vegetative cover.
Having more trees in this neighborhood park will help stitch together the greenspace and the surrounding streets, and help mitigate the urban heat island effect.
¹New York City Department of Health, Environment & Health Data Portal. "Weather-related illness" data. Heat vulnerability index. Website viewed on November, 2022.
Chicago, IL
Blue Island is a working-class community located along the Cal-Sag Trail. This majority Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) community contains areas with as little as 16% canopy cover, leading to heat islands, elevated flooding risks and poor air quality¹. PwC US worked alongside other community tree champions from local government and through the community to reverse these canopy losses.
The local school serves 6th-8th graders, and is located on a campus with a significant amount of paved surfaces and very little green space. Beginning with the parkways in front of the local school, 50 trees in Blue Island's parkways were planted to reduce heat islands and create much-needed shade along the childrens route to school, as well as on the school campus itself.
Increasing tree canopy won't just improve environmental conditions, the increased access to tree canopy will also have positive impacts on the health and wellbeing of the staff and families that frequent this area.
¹Arbor Day Foundation. 2022
Detroit, MI
A local recreation center operates with year-long programming for the community, and the City of Detroit has recently made improvements that include a new playfield, a paved walking track, softball/baseball fields, basketball courts and a picnic pavilion. Students from a nearby academy and school utilise the park for school activities, and the neighborhoods surrounding the park are slated for new investments as part of the City’s Strategic Neighborhood Fund. Trees for this project will provide a vegetative buffer from the busy Vernor Highway. The trees also will help to control erosion, increase shade, and improve the aesthetics of the natural space. The new trees will intercept stormwater runoff and capture non-point source pollutants to protect rivers and the Great Lakes; remove particulate matter and gasses from the air to improve air quality; and mitigate urban heat island effects.
Every tree planted by the volunteers will help to replace the hundreds of thousands of trees lost to the emerald ash borer during the last two decades, stemming the tide of deforestation in Detroit.
San Francisco, CA
This project took place in the Mission District of San Francisco to green some of the highest traffic areas of the city. According to San Francisco’s published Urban Forest Plan, the tree canopy coverage is 7.5% for the Mission District, which is far below the 13.7% city average for San Francisco.
The project area is a low-income neighborhood with a low tree canopy, susceptible to the heat island effect, and is the cornerstone for the Latinx community. Most residents in this neighborhood are from BIPOC communities, with 12% Asian-American and 42% Hispanic. The landscape is a concrete jungle, filled with light industrial auto mechanics, retail shops, large chain stores and smaller family-owned restaurants, as well as the Zuckerman hospital.
PwC US volunteers were joined by specially trained planting leaders and local neighbours. This planting project will have a short and long-term impact on the climate, heat-island effect, and air pollution, as well as having reverberations on socioeconomic outcomes.
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Helping build a more equitable future for Black and Latinx college students in the US
PwC US worked with iMentor to better understand what makes a meaningful mentorship relationship and how mentors can better help young people from low income communities on their journey to a college education and beyond.
Environment
Environmental Stewardship. Our footprint and beyond.
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