AMEC is a focused supplier of high-value consultancy, engineering and project management services to the world's energy, power and process industries. With annual revenues of over £2.3billion, AMEC designs, delivers and maintains strategic and complex assets for its customers. AMEC employs over 23,000 people in more than 30 countries.

Linzie Forrester has been Global Sustainability Programme Manager at AMEC plc since 2005. She's been with AMEC for the last 11 years and before that in the ceramics industry with Cookson Matthey. "At Uni, I got a geography degree, post grad in environmental sciences and an MSc in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment," Linzie says.

"I started my career in occupational hygiene, health and safety but moved to AMEC Civil Engineering in 1997 as a site Senior Safety and Environmental Adviser. I later became AMEC's Environmental Manager before moving to corporate work in 2002."

Please tell us what your role at AMEC involves

"Essentially to oversee the implementation of AMEC's Sustainability Programme and provide direction, support and advice to AMEC businesses worldwide on the various aspects of it to ensure it is delivered and the objectives are achieved."

How do you impose yourself and your vision on large, global company with such diverse activities?

"By ensuring that everything has a sound business case for doing it and by taking a flexible approach so all parts of our business, no matter how small or where they are located, can contribute."

AMEC has said it wants to make itself 'carbon-proof'. What does this imply?

"That we review our policy structures to ensure that they are in line with our ambitions such as our transport fleet policies, real estate policies, travel policies, supply chain policies and so on. Only when carbon emission awareness influences our main-stream policy obligations, which in turn impact on processes and behaviour, will we have fully integrated low-carbon management into the organisation.

"However such work doesn't always make you very popular, particularly now that the "planet trashing" 4x4's and gas-guzzlers have been removed from the company car choice list!"

The company advises others on their environmental impact, but how does AMEC manage its own carbon footprint?

"In the first instance AMEC has in place a mandatory requirement for businesses to implement an environmental management system. We implemented a carbon indicator in 2003 and have been tracking our emissions ever since. This information informs the business unit EMS and is used as part of the local target-setting requirement - integrated into ISO 14001.

"However, we are raising the bar and as part of AMEC's Operational Excellence programme we are implementing a worldwide low-carbon strategy. "This strategy will support the business unit EMS and ensure that we develop a more focused strategic approach to carbon management. We see carbon management as a significant issue in AMEC and it is included in our corporate risk register which means it is taken very seriously by the most powerful stakeholders in our company."

Please tell us about the carbon capture study AMEC recently completed

"Well, a study led by Yorkshire Forward [the Regional Development Agency] for a group of stakeholders and undertaken by AMEC shows how Britain could reduce its total CO2 emissions by over 6 per cent by capturing and storing CO2 from sources in Yorkshire and Humber. This would represent the equivalent of taking 14 million cars off the road by 2030.

"The study proposes an infrastructure network that would connect power plants to storage facilities in the depleted gas fields off the adjacent coastline in the South of the North Sea. The network would link the largest sources in the region and enable other emitters to transport and store their CO2.

"Senior AMEC figures working on the study believe this regional network approach would be a first in the UK and our study shows it can work. The report details scenarios under which the network would transport between 24 to 54 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030, rising to about 60 million tonnes by 2040 - a significant proportion of the UK emissions.

"CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) is one approach that is considered by the Stern Review, the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency as essential to provide a lower carbon future. As such, the study represents a tangible step forward for the viability of Carbon Capture and Storage in the UK."

How important are accolades like the SAM (Sustainable Asset Management) Silver Award to companies like AMEC?

"To be honest we do not tend to apply for many awards. However, the SAM and the Business in the Community achievements are great to have, really good for morale and give us an opportunity to celebrate our achievements and demonstrate them to external stakeholders."

What is your proudest low carbon achievement?

"From a business perspective? The fact that our business is developing innovative low carbon solutions which have the capacity to make a significant impact on tackling climate change.

"Job wise it's the reality of implementing a global low-carbon strategy with the support and drive of our senior management.

"Personally - arriving at a point where I no longer have to fight to put carbon on the agenda because our people are doing it themselves. I don't think this is down to me - but it makes me proud anyway."

What are you working on right now?

"An employee engagement strategy which promotes personal carbon accountability and also developing our 'one journey less' initiative."

What advice do you have for sustainability/low carbon managers?

"Ensure you fit your message to your target audience. Many sustainability/carbon managers started out like me as environmental people. Too often, we talk in terms of environmental protection while business talks cold, hard cash.

"So learn to talk money to management: carbon equals cash; investment has long-term pay back. Business needs to understand that there are risks and opportunities in managing carbon emissions and its worth spending time illustrating the business case: i.e. what it is going to mean to the bottom line.

"We have a unique opportunity to use the economic downturn to push home efficiency (transport, energy, resource) ... use it!"

Climate Change: Navigating Between Inevitability and Uncertainty

We live in an age of inevitability and uncertainty. It is inevitable that climate change will materially affect your organisation in the future. But when will climate change-related issues reach the top of your organisation’s agenda? Outside the power sector nobody knows for sure.

The wide divergence in responses to climate change is generated by the scientific uncertainty about the timing of significant changes in regional climates. Organisations investing too early, like the city of Hull spending on flood defences in 2010 for example, risk spending money for no immediate purpose. Those investing too late – such as Hull not investing in the same defences until 2025 – risk dramatic losses if the climate changes faster than expected.

The inevitability that climate change will impact organisations is slowly moving the market from a context where action is optional to a new context where action is essential. But uncertainty over timing holds back risk analysis, strategy development, mitigation programmes and opportunity assessments. Uncertainty means beliefs are not translated into action and investment.

A recent Verdantix survey found that 88% of ‘climate change leaders’ at 50 large UK firms believe climate change is a “strategic issue” and 68% have a documented climate change strategy, but only 28% have a full-time employee dedicated to climate change issues. In the same survey, 74% of respondents considered that industry leadership on climate change would provide a competitive advantage to their firm in 2008. So what are firms doing to capture this advantage?

Consulting demand is a reliable indicator of activity on a new business challenge where firms lack internal expertise. Guided by a panel of 15 customers, recent Verdantix research focused on 16 consulting firms revealed a variety of consulting hot spots which are starting to grow significantly. Common assignments include:

Baseline carbon footprint analysis. Firms need accurate data on their carbon emissions to define a starting point, trajectory and strategy for reductions. These engagements vary widely with some firms adopting an 80/20 approach using existing data sources while a handful implement smart meters and sensors to collect more granular data. Firms like EcoSecurities and ICF International started work in these areas in the 1990s working for Nike and BP respectively.

Projects tackling energy efficiency in buildings. Heating, cooling and lighting buildings constitute the main sources of energy consumption and emissions release for organisations in non-energy-intensive sectors such as local government, universities, retail, media and support services. On a site-by-site basis organisations increasingly seek advice on their building design and refurbishment options in the context of climate change strategies and regulations. An example of a specialist UK firm focused on this challenge is dcarbon8.

Data centre and facilities emissions assessments. Information technology (IT) accounts for a large proportion of energy costs – and carbon emissions – for banks, insurers, IT outsourcers and telcos. Some firms that want more computing power in urban data centres have found they can not physically increase the electricity supply, resulting in radical plans to reduce energy consumption. IBM’s Global Business Services group and Deloitte’s technology consulting teams are active in this area.

Product-level embodied carbon analysis. Despite the early interest in carbon labelling, and the ongoing development of standards like the British Standards Institution PAS 2050, few firms intend to expand carbon labelling work beyond a handful of existing trial projects. The barriers include a prohibitively high cost per product and a lack of consumer interest in paying a premium for lower carbon products. The carbon hotspot analysis from LEK Consulting has received plaudits for identifying quick wins.

Compliance advice for the Carbon Reduction Commitment. In the UK, buildings held in large real estate portfolios will fall under the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) from April 2010. This has driven a need for organisations with large property portfolios such as government departments, Real Estate Investment Trusts, pension funds, large retailers and retail banks to understand their exposure to the CRC including the “hall of shame” league table and anticipated increases in energy costs. Energy consulting firms like WSP Group and McKinnon-Clarke will offer outsourced CRC compliance services.

Recommendations on climate change compliance. Every year climate change and energy efficiency legislation becomes more complex. What’s more there is uncertainty about new regulations – witness the lack of a global climate change regime from January 2013 and uncertainty about if and when a US cap-and-trade scheme will be introduced. To manage through this uncertainty firms turn to professional services firms like PwC and Deloitte with strong government relationships and knowledge of regulatory frameworks in different jurisdictions.

Scenario development for the cost of carbon. The private sector, especially financial firms active in the global carbon market, clamour for more visibility into the future cost of carbon to underpin investment cases. The lack of price visibility creates problems. Some Silicon Valley venture capitalists currently refuse to fund a business plan with an assumed carbon price due to the lack of certainty on the post-Kyoto carbon market. With the UN’s climate change negotiations scheduled to agree a post-2012 regime in December 2009, firms need to understand possible scenarios.

Large firms are investing in multiple assessments to help successfully navigate the tension between inevitability and the uncertain timing of change. Sector leaders like Tesco, HSBC and Unilever increasingly see climate change as a revenue-generating opportunity not just a compliance issue: an opportunity to win market share from competitors. Innovation from these industry giants has unleashed a competitive dynamic that will force their competitors and suppliers to move from small-scale assessments to robust cross-functional programmes. Years before scientific uncertainty is resolved, the dynamic effect of economic competition will have pushed climate change to the top of your organisation’s agenda. And this will be in 2010 – not 2025.

David Metcalfe, Director, Verdantix
Verdantix is an independent business research firm providing analysis of climate change, carbon markets and corporate responsibility: www.verdantix.com