Sustainable development advisory

Sustainable development and the growing impact of climate change are now priorities for every kind of business. Organisations are rethinking supply chains, trying to avoid stranded assets, anticipate regulatory change, and make investments in nature and the built environment that will deliver economic, social and environmental benefits in this rapidly changing business context.

Arup helps clients to respond to climate change risks, make more sustainable use of resources, and amplify the social value of their organisations’ activities and practices. We help them prioritise and adopt approaches aligned to internationally recognised ESG standards. We also help clients to invest sustainably, in nature, buildings and assets that will retain value long into the future. And we increasingly help clients to adopt circular economy principles within their operating or productive models.

Responding to this global economic agenda involves a new level of organisational and cultural change. Mastering it will ensure your business remains relevant, profitable and responsive to clients and customers alike while also delivering positive environmental and societal outcomes.

How we can help

Every organisation is at a different point in dealing with this new landscape and its complex drivers. Arup’s breadth of advisory and technical knowledge means we can produce insights relevant to every operational element of your organisation.

We can help in five ways:

Define your ESG strategy

We work with you to establish both your existing exposure to climate change risk, and the wider opportunities of embedding a tailored ESG strategy within your organisation.

Strategies are not one-off documents, and our most valuable work is conducted in long-term partnerships, where we can help clients to evolve and improve over time, letting ESG shape corporate culture. Find out how we’ve been helping the UK’s Crown Estate to embed sustainable practices across its considerable real estate portfolio.

Analyse and explore your market/sector

Foresight is Arup’s in-house trend analysis service, carrying out research that provides new market insights and problem-solving business intelligence.

As new global trends – from hydrogen power to decarbonisation to circular economy business models – continue to multiply and converge, we can be your knowledge partner. We act as a bridge, helping you to learn from and collaborate with new partner organisations. Together, we can turn new theories into practical actions, and position you for future success.

Find out more about our Foresight team

Identify operational and social priorities

We can help you to operate more sustainably – whether that’s in terms of energy and resource use, asset optimisation or carbon emissions reductions. Our technical and advisory team can carry out carbon footprint analysis, energy audits and benchmark your business, bringing clarity to decision making at all levels.

Of course, sustainable development advisory doesn’t simply mean dealing with CO2 emissions. Our sustainability teams help clients to identify the most relevant and socially valuable actions their business is ready to take, from greening their estates to embedding community benefits within their business model.

Discover how our sustainability consulting team can help you

Invest sustainably and profitably

Today’s investment equations are more and more complex. A pandemic and a growing awareness of the impacts of climate change and depletion of natural resources are transforming the way investors approach real estate and infrastructure investments. New financial realities like the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures and the EU’s Sustainable Finance Taxonomy are reshaping the way the global economy approaches decision making in profound ways.

Find out more about our sustainable investment and green finance services

Reporting and disclosure

ESG reporting and disclosure are not only regulatory requirements, they can help your organisation to learn and communicate progress in these vital areas of operation. They’re an opportunity to both assure investors and embed cultural change, taking a wider view of success than simple financial performance.

Our team helps you to take an organisation-wide approach to this important task, combining our communications and technical expertise to present your data and progress as transparently and effectively as possible.

It’s time to climate-calibrate your organisation

As the existential threat of climate change gathers in scale and impact, it’s clear that every organisation will eventually have to become ‘climate calibrated’. The regulatory landscape will tighten, consumer and client preferences will harden and what is a choice today, will become a requirement tomorrow. In the built environment, new accreditation standards that focus on embodied carbon and in-use energy performance are replacing well-established sustainability accreditations schemes. These new approaches will soon be vital for resale, the future preservation of investor capital and the avoidance of stranded assets.

We can help your organisation to move beyond these existing site-based standards, to define and implement climate calibrated principles consistently across your services, manufacturing, production and other business activities. Now is the time to demonstrate leadership, set new market standards, and get ahead of future regulation – whatever sector you operate in.