William Hughes Director - Sustainability

William leads the environmental pillar of our Sustainability Services and helps clients with carbon emissions measurement, net zero transition plans, TCFD alignment and climate risk identification and quantification. William also supports clients in designing and implementing ESG strategies in alignment with non-financial reporting standards (IFRS S1 & S2, GRI and CSRD).

Experience

William is a Director in the Sustainability Services team in the UK, having joined Mazars in South Africa in 2017. William is an IEMA certified carbon footprint analyst and has 18 years’ of experience working in Sustainability.

Before joining Mazars, William was a commercial farmer in Zimbabwe for 20 years, growing various crops such as maize, wheat, soya beans and avocados. While in Zimbabwe, he was the Chairman of the Zimbabwe Joint Resettlement Initiative and Vice President of the Commercial Farmers Union. William also ran his own carbon neutral textile manufacturing company and was instrumental in pioneering sustainability reporting for SME’s.

William advises companies and organisations of all sizes across different sectors on their ESG, climate risk, human rights and net zero journeys, based on best practices and aligned with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP’s).

William has spoken at numerous local and international Sustainability events, including the GRI Global Conference in Amsterdam, the ACCA and the Green Imbizo and has presented a paper on Sustainability at the World Forum for Responsible Business in Lille, France.

Work highlights

William was instrumental in founding the Forvis Mazars sustainability service line in South Africa in 2017 and similarly in the UK, starting alone in 2020 and now part of a 15 person team of sustainability experts across all facets of ESG and sustainability assurance.