Photographic portrait of Steve Varley
The future of sustainability is value-led: improving energy efficiency, rethinking supply chains and transforming business models to drive superior resilience, innovation and financial performance.

Steve Varley

EY Global Vice Chair - Sustainability

Passionate about sustainability, diversity and entrepreneurship. Husband and father of two. Triathlete.

Steve is EY Global Vice Chair - Sustainability, leading EY’s climate change and sustainability agenda globally in a newly created role that is the first amongst the Big Four. He helps EY clients create business value from sustainability and accelerate their transition to a lower carbon future. He also leads EY’s overall environmental sustainability strategy across the US$36b professional services organization and its 300,000 people. Steve is leading the organization’s efforts towards decarbonization and has overseen its achievement of carbon neutrality in 2020, carbon negative in 2021, and net zero commitment for 2025. 

Steve was previously EY UK&I Regional Managing Partner and Chair of EY UK, leading the US$3.5b business and its 17,000 employees. During his nine-year tenure he drove an inclusive and green growth, doubling its revenues from £1.3b in FY11 to £2.6, in FY20. During this time, 8,000 jobs were created in the UK, more than half of which were outside of London. He originally joined EY in 2005 and has nearly 30 years of client and consulting business experience in various sectors including pharmaceuticals, oil & gas and public services.  

Steve was a member of the Business Advisory Group to both Prime Ministers David Cameron and Theresa May and was also the UK Government’s Business Ambassador for the professional services industry during this time. He was part of the business delegation on the Prime Minister’s Trade Missions, including visits to Russia, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brazil and China.

How Steve is building a better working world

Steve is founding co-chair of the S30, a group of 30 Chief Sustainability Officers from some of the world’s leading businesses, launched in 2020 in collaboration with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales’s Sustainable Markets Initiative.

Steve is also a founding member of the Social Business Trust, a member of the International Chamber of Commerce governing body, on the Chairman’s Advisory Group for the British Museum and a member of the Productivity Leadership Group. Having earned a BEng at Loughborough University, he is now on its board.

Contact Steve