Sustainable investment

The environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda, and the rapidly changing issues and regulations that drive it, are changing the investment equation for organisations in every sector.

Customer and client expectations and behaviours are also evolving rapidly, while the physical impacts of climate change, global resource depletion and the increasing social divide are sharpening decision making. Regulation and reporting requirements such as the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulations for investors (SFDR) and the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), alongside the need to show how activities align with various developing sustainable Taxonomies, are collectively driving urgent need for action.

However, organisations are also increasingly seeing the huge potential benefit and enhanced returns in managing financial exposure to stranded assets and climate risk, and unlocking value opportunities through reducing carbon footprints, enhancing resilience, managing resources more effectively and engaging with communities to deliver social equity.

As a purpose-led organisation with a commitment to sustainable development, Arup is helping organisations and investors to navigate this changing landscape with confidence, achieving more sustainable outcomes using a combination of advisory skills, sustainability insight and deep technical expertise drawn from every part of the built environment. Ultimately, we believe sustainable investments are a way of delivering a resilient, innovation-focused business that will be good for people, the planet and economic prosperity.

Sustainable investment services

Our sustainable investment advisory team can help you establish clear sustainability goals and to invest with purpose, either by innovating in an existing market or pivoting to new ones. Our approach addresses four key priorities:

1. Define your role: in delivering a more sustainable future, embedding a sustainability culture across your organisation

2. Build the case for investment: in sustainable projects or new sustainable technologies, securing access to finance and creating new partnerships

3. Capture and realise ESG value: through investments, and managing risk across your investment portfolio.  We have transformed the traditional compliance tick-box environmental due diligence approach into a value focused ESG scope, quantifying impacts and opportunities, and making recommendations for post-deal improvement.

4. Accelerating the transition: to a more resilient and sustainable future, by adapting existing assets or transforming business models, avoiding stranded assets, and realising sustainable outcomes.

How we help you

Sustainable investments take different forms across the economy – we can help you to define the path that works best for your organisation:

Executive leaders: setting the direction

Business leaders need to establish a clear purpose and define the top-level goals for their organisation, including identifying opportunities and setting ESG priorities. We help senior leaders to take a comprehensive and long-term view, aligning investment decision making to the wider purpose, before codifying the overall strategy.

Public sector project sponsors: making the case

We help project sponsors to make a clear sustainability-led business case for change, establish clear outcomes and navigate funding support mechanisms. For potential public/private partnerships that means structuring a project so that it meets policy objectives and is attractive to providers of green finance too. We have advised Liverpool Region Combined Authority on developing the case for a major tidal energy project and we are supporting UK Atomic Energy Authority in developing its operating model, procurement and financial partner strategy for a major fusion demonstrator project.

Asset operators/industrialists: implementing the vision 

We help COOs and strategy directors to move to ‘the how?’ phase. That means defining and implementing the actions and investment choices that are most pragmatic and effective. We can provide the insight to support bold steps to capitalise on new, and emerging markets or divest from assets with diminishing future value. We help you to think through the plan and create new business models and partnerships that will move you forward to a more sustainable and resilient business.

Investors

Investors want commercial confidence in a proposed new investment. We help capture and realise the full potential value in the deal.

We recently provided vendor technical and ESG due diligence for our investor client Terra Firma for its recent sale of Parmaco, a Scandinavian schools-as-a-service company.

Opportunities

We see huge opportunity to create value across the investment cycle. Here are just a few possibilities any organisation might take advantage of:

Accelerate climate action

• implementing your organisation’s net zero transition

• investing in climate change mitigation technologies

• achieving climate resilience and adaptation measures

Make sustainable use of natural resources

• adopting nature-based solutions and regenerative approaches

• making more efficient use of existing resources

• adopting circular economy business models and practices 

Create socially valuable outcomes

• invest inclusively – the net zero transition is an opportunity to address related social issues

• engage with communities and create more liveable places

• improve health, safety and wellbeing for all