Sustainability

A view of a lake.

Sustainability at BDO

For us, sustainability is doing the right thing. It means delivering high-quality expert services to our clients, providing meaningful and rewarding work to our employees, pursuing ethics and growth in our business operations and having a positive impact on our industry, society and the environment.

We are a responsible Finnish employer

We invest in the well-being of our employees and the continuous development of competence. Currently, we are increasing our entire personnel’s competence and understanding through training focused on sustainability issues. We continuously develop our services to correspond to the changing requirements in our operating environment. 

We help our clients operate in a sustainable manner and report with high quality

We focus on excellent customer service and high quality in our operations. We help our clients make their business operations more sustainable and ensure high-quality, reliable and transparent reporting. We are a dependable partner to our clients, both as an advisor and as a provider of assurance services for sustainability reporting. 

We help build transparency and trust in society

As an audit firm, we play an important role in society. For example, the functioning of equity and debt financing markets and the accuracy of taxation rely heavily on reliable and accurate financial statements figures. We bear responsibility with regard to the environment and society - we are committed to the UN Global Compact initiative, which aims to promote responsible and sustainable business throughout the world.

Our emission reduction targets 

Our climate-related targets are focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by our own operations and our value chain. BDO’s short-term and long-term Science Based Targets (SBTi) were approved in autumn 2025. The targets have been set using the SBTi’s cross-sectoral emission reduction pathway, and they are aligned with the 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement. Based on these targets, we will create a transition plan for 2030 and 2050. The base year for the targets is 2024 (financial period 2024) and, in addition to our own operations, they cover value chain GHG emissions (Scope 1, 2, 3) in full. BDO is committed to applying the SBTi methodological framework. The development of emissions is monitored annually by the Management Team and the Board of Directors in connection with the monitoring of the sustainability review. 

We are committed to reducing our GHG emissions as follows: 

  • Direct GHG emissions and indirect GHG emissions from purchased energy (scope 1 & market-based scope 2): gross reduction of –42% by 2030 and –90% by 2050, compared to a base year of 2024.
  • Indirect GHG emissions (scope 3): a numerical short-term target has not been set, but BDO is committed to reducing indirect emissions throughout the value chain and achieving a –90% gross reduction by 2050.

People helping people

People helping people achieve their dreams is one of our core values, and it guides our actions also regarding the society around us. We engage in continuous co-operation with partners such as the Ronald McDonald House Charities and Women's Bank. We support these causes through donations and community engagement. Additionally, we support the activities of local sports clubs.

Get to know our sustainability services

ESG services, i.e. sustainability services

Responsible business

As an audit firm, our operations are based on responsible business conduct, maintaining high quality and independence in accordance with industry standards, and the shared practices and operating procedures of our international network. 

The high quality of our work in both auditing and advisory services is based on the strong expertise and experience of our experts. A designated expert responsible for each client actively participates in assignments and supervises the work of their team.

Transparency

Each year, we publish a transparency report that describes how we ensure the independence of our employees and services, the high quality of our expert work and excellent customer service.

Our transparency report describes our operations in accordance with Article 13 of the EU’s Audit Regulation.

High-quality auditing and excellent customer service are paramount to us. We carry out audits in line with professional auditing standards, and our customer service is based on impeccable accessibility and flexibility. 

The quality of our work is founded on our experienced, highly competent employees. The responsible auditor participates in the actual auditing work while also monitoring the work of the entire auditing team to ensure compliance with the auditing plan. It is our principle to minimise changes in the composition of teams during long-term client relationships, as such changes tend to hinder the implementation of assignments.

The administration, operating principles and ownership of auditing firms is regulated comprehensively by laws, regulations and sector-specific standards. We have developed a quality assurance programme for auditing in accordance with international auditing standards. Our quality assurance programme enables us to ensure compliance with good auditing practices and the procedures agreed for the work of auditors.

We are continuously developing new operating methods and instructions to be used as auditing tools. We promote good auditing practices through internal quality assurance inspections.

Our auditors participate regularly in external quality assurance measures for certified auditors. In addition, the international BDO network monitors the quality of our work by means of internal reporting obligations and inspections.

We pay close attention to the impacts of our operations on people, the environment and society. As part of this work, we participate in the United Nations Global Compact initiative.

The UN Global Compact is a corporate responsibility initiative launched by the UN that promotes and develops the ecological, social and economic responsibility of companies and communities by utilising the Ten Principles of the Global Compact and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Our four focus areas are health and well-being, climate action, reducing inequalities, and peace, justice and good governance.

Read our latest report here.

As a member of the Net-Zero Financial Services Providers Alliance (NZFSPA), we are committed to the following targets that are aligned with the Paris Agreement: net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at the latest, and first halving greenhouse gas emissions within the next 5–10 years.

We aim to continuously reduce energy consumption, the amount of waste, the emissions arising from commuting and the use of paper at our offices:  

  • we focus on waste sorting and recycling at our offices,
  • we offer our employees a bicycle benefit,   
  • we have introduced an electronic invoicing system, and
  • we have a preference for digital reports and manuals.

Our transparency reports