Following our previous blog posts (part 1 and part 2) which looked at potential changes in the business environment for consultants, part 3 will look at ‘going green’ and think a little about recruitment in future years.
Going Green
As the amount of media coverage given to ‘extreme weather events’ increases, it is inevitable that climate change will become a more important issue in the everyday lives of people and business. The government will eventually be forced to take measures to mitigate its effects and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ultimately, delayed action presents a substantial business risk.
At some point the government will have to increase spending on flood prevention, sustainable energy and other such public infrastructure projects. This along with widening general knowledge of climate science and consolidation of scientific and public opinion, will help to drive the economy towards sustainability. This is slowly starting to happen through such agreements as the Rio Earth Summit. However, the environmental industry must be better organised in order to influence government policy and create more opportunity for businesses in the industry.
There is an increasing trend towards divestment of polluting industries such as coal. Long term investors are beginning to see them as unethical and risky due to the inevitable move away from fossil fuels as we move to more sustainable sources of energy. ‘Stranded’ assets are concerning investors as they have the potential to wipe significant value from corporations’ balance sheets. These divestments could free up more capital for investment in growing sustainable energy industries. EC businesses should take advantage of this when seeking sources of finance.
In spite of lobbying pressures from the fossil fuel industry and an apparent unwillingness on behalf of many politicians to acknowledge the scientific literature or listen to experts, business leaders increasingly recognise the fact that changes in climate will have an impact on business. They increasingly use scientific knowledge to inform business practices and as such, recognise the role that science will have to play in informing future government policy. This is good news. Ultimately, businesses will pressure the government to invest in, or subsidise, sustainable industries with good prospects for the future instead of clinging to the old model of exploiting natural capital with little regard to environmental impacts.
Companies are already beginning to look at their overall environmental impact, addressing things such as water offsetting and carbon reporting. Many will outsource this work to consultants with relevant experience. The remit of impact assessments will be widened to include social, economic and other factors. By assessing these factors as well as traditional assessments, EC’s will be able to expand and integrate further into the business community, offering a wider range of business consultancy services not usually associated with environmental consultants.
Recruitment
There are other issues for environmental consultants to consider in the next few years. STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) occupations are already undersubscribed and will become increasingly in demand. This could be a real issue for smaller EC businesses looking to expand as a lack of expertise in the industry will drive up costs (supply and demand). Larger companies with more financial backing and good training and development will be best placed to deal with this. However, if the government finally changes its austerity policy or is beaten in the next general election, public spending may increase and encourage further growth in the industry.
On a global scale, the UK private sector currently ranks relatively highly in sustainable business. As such, it is well positioned to contribute more to education in terms of bursaries, university funding and training schemes.
Conclusion
In the short term it looks likely that the economic situation will remain difficult and uncertain for businesses. Brexit is a huge spanner in the works for many, particularly those where a large amount of their work is bound up in environmental legislation. It is unclear what government policy will be in the next six months, let alone in ten years, and this doesn’t inspire confidence. However, environmental changes may eventually force environmental issues higher up the media agenda. Eventually the government will have to implement policies that truly recognise the environmental problems the world faces. If environment and ecology focussed businesses can ride the storm created by Brexit, there should be significant opportunity to utilise their expertise in the future.
Our licensed ecologists are experienced in a range of survey types, European Protected Species licensing and mitigation design and implementation.
For more information about bat surveys or any of our other ecological services call us on 029 2065 0331.
