Accenture to Equip 3 Million with Workplace and Entrepreneurial Skills by 2020

Commits to reducing per employee carbon emissions by more than 50 percent in latest Corporate Citizenship Report

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) released its 2014 Corporate Citizenship Report, “Making a Measurable Difference,” which announces a series of 2020 goals and highlights the company’s efforts to collaborate with others to improve the way the world works and lives.

Together with its strategic partners, Accenture will equip more than 3 million people with the skills to get a job or build a business by the end of fiscal 2020 through its Skills to Succeed initiative. As a part of this, the company will increase its focus on the successful transition of individuals from skill-building programs to sustainable jobs and businesses, and bring together more organizations across sectors to create large scale, lasting solutions aimed at closing global unemployment gaps. Since fiscal 2011, Accenture has equipped more than 800,000 people with workplace and entrepreneurial skills.

Skills to Succeed helps advance employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for individuals worldwide. For example, helping a Bangladeshi woman entrepreneur challenge traditional gender roles by launching a business and achieving financial independence or equipping an unemployed young man in the United Kingdom with a set of technology skills that helped him secure a job in digital marketing.

Also by the end of fiscal 2020, Accenture will reduce its per employee carbon emissions by more than 50 percent against its fiscal 2007 baseline, and begin to measure and report the impact of its sustainability initiatives with clients and suppliers. Through its carbon reduction initiatives, Accenture has avoided approximately 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide between fiscal 2007 and 2014.

“Our world is moving at an unprecedented pace. Powerful forces – geopolitical shifts, market volatility, increased competition – are driving change as never before,” said Pierre Nanterme, Accenture’s Chairman & CEO. “In this environment, we know it is critical to collaborate with our clients, suppliers and partners to make an even more profound and measurable difference in our communities.”

The report also illustrates Accenture’s commitment to advancing inclusion and diversity among its people and suppliers. The company aims to grow its percentage of women new hires and develop and integrate more small, medium and diverse enterprises into its global supply chain.

“Our people, whose rich diversity helps us better serve the needs of our clients and communities, are truly the pulse of Accenture,” said Adrian Lajtha, Accenture’s chief leadership officer. “By convening innovative partnerships, leveraging technology and delivering measurable solutions, our more than 323,000 men and women around the world bring the same passion and rigor to our corporate citizenship initiatives as they do to our client service.”

About Accenture’s 2014 Corporate Citizenship Report

The report details Accenture’s impact during fiscal 2014 across five areas: Corporate Governance, Skills to Succeed, Environment, Our People and Supply Chain. Accenture uses Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 Guidelines as a foundation for its reporting approach and has self-declared this report at Application Level B, as checked by GRI. The report serves as Accenture’s sixth Communication on Progress to the United Nations Global Compact, which the company signed in 2008, and documents Accenture’s progress as a member of Global Compact LEAD, which focuses on raising sustainability performance.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 323,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. Through its Skills to Succeed corporate citizenship initiative, Accenture is equipping more than 3 million people around the world with the skills to get a job or build a business. The company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

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AccentureSam Hyland+ 1 917 452 [e-mail]