Bain Partners with a Dozen World-Class Universities to Accelerate Staff ESG Training

As scientists continue to sound the alarm on the increasingly dire consequences of an under-response to global climate change, businesses and governments around the world are continuing efforts to accelerate making good on net zero and other climate-related pledges.

Consulting firms are offering a broad array of services focused on implementing and achieving Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals, but are encountering a shrinking pool of available experts to draw into their ranks. In response, Bain & Company is making a move to partner with 12 world-class universities to offer an accelerated and specialized post-graduate-level global ESG training program to upskill all its consultants across the firm’s 65 offices in 40 countries.

The move is the largest of its kind within the top-tier management consulting sector, and is already underway and being rapidly deployed across all the firm’s global regions, serving as a key element of Bain’s ongoing focus on supporting sustainable transitions to help its clients make a positive impact on the climate situation. The program supports Bain’s goal to integrate ESG into 100% of its client work as well as its internal and external operations.

The intense, 40-hour training will be delivered to each consultant primarily in the form of live sessions with some hybrid elements, with partner business schools developing programs tailored to their region’s unique needs. Training modules will include energy transition; climate change; sustainable development; circularity and value chains; business transformation; social justice; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); and sustainable and equitable food systems.

Discussing the program, François Faelli, Global Managing Partner for ESG at Bain, said: "Reaching net zero on a global scale requires a tremendous investment in ESG skills. The next generation of business leaders must intuitively understand how to balance financial and non-financial objectives. I am proud to say that we will very shortly have succeeded in delivering this training for thousands of our advisors who will help steer our clients towards a more sustainable future.”

Bain has been carbon neutral since 2011, and announced in April of this year its commitment to science-based target emissions reductions as well as a pledge to be net carbon negative in every year going forward. The firm launched its Sustainability and Responsibility Practice over a decade ago and has seen the program grow by more than 65% per year over the past five years. It has completed more than 950 sustainability projects since its inception.