PwC brings together 130 energy transition experts into new practice

Big Four firm PwC has brought together over 130 team energy transition experts from across its lines of business into the new fresh Energy Transition practice.

With the launch of the new wing, PwC aims to cement its position as a frontrunner in the decarbonisation and net zero consulting pace – a segment which is expect to boom to $3.7 billion domestically by 2030 according to modelling by the firm’s own economists.

By blending its expertise across strategy, deals, sustainability, tax, supply chain, reporting and more, PwC can bring “critical mass and a multi-disciplinary offering” to the market, said Varya Davidson, a partner at the firm and leader of the new practice.

“It’s a privilege to be charged with leading our Energy Transition capabilities and services, tackling all of the complexities and ambiguity of climate change and related social challenges in collaboration with our clients. This is pioneering work, and bringing our cross-functional capabilities together into one focused business will benefit our clients greatly,” said Davidson.

According to Davidson, the group is the “largest collective formed to date by any advisory firm working on Australia’s energy transition”, a statement which is hard to verify given that key rivals currently don’t (yet) go to market in the energy transition space with a single practice, or simply don’t disclose their headcount in the segment.

With major market opportunities unfolding, consulting giants are lining-up fast, however. Deloitte and KPMG have both committed more than $US1 billion globally into ramping up their net zero offerings, McKinsey & Company last year launched its dedicated practice known as McKinsey Sustainability (and closed three acquisitions in the domain), and specialised players such as ERM have continued their buy-and-build acquisition spree.

Meanwhile, both Boston Consulting Group and L.E.K. Consulting recently launched specialised energy transition centres of excellence in Asia Pacific. But the list of firms beefing up in the space is much longer.

PwC itself is pumping billions into its climate change and ESG offerings at a global level, being one of the main pillars of its five-year The New Equation strategy.

The Energy Transition practice will be grouped internally within the Financial Advisory division, which is led by Pete Calleja. “For our nation to reach net zero by 2050, we must cut through the inertia and take accelerated action,” he said on the launch of the unit.

“We’re building on a very strong base of existing client work (which includes work with Sun Cable on its Australia-Asia PowerLink) and are doubling down on our support for clients.”

Building on its ambition, PwC aims to nearly double the business by 2025, “New joiners will be able to widen and deepen their knowledge of energy transition and ESG, and work on some of the biggest challenge our country, and the globe, has to tackle,” said Calleja.

According to economic research by EY (one of PwC’s main rivals in the energy transition consulting domain), addressing climate change could stack up to a $3.4 trillion opportunity for Australia.