Strengthening our sustainability team in the UK

Head of Carbon Accounting, Qian Li – who previously worked at Cundall – will provide his expertise in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) accounting and embodied carbon. Qian has helped developed the world's leading whole life carbon frameworks. He has also led the work on the Whole Life-Cycle Carbon Assessment guidance for the new London Plan and acted as a key author on the updated RICS whole life carbon assessment standard.

Sara Ferretti also joins us as Associate Director to strengthen our GHG accounting and reporting team. Sara was previously Specialist Consultant at Aardvark EM where she led the London office and established the firm’s carbon and compliance offer.    

Finally, Simon Earles joins the team as Project Director, bringing sector-specialist knowledge in major infrastructure programmes, most recently in aviation. Simon was previously planning and Sustainability Director at Bristol Airport, and before that held a similar role at Heathrow.    

The team’s remit will be to advise and support the public and private sector to develop robust, ambitious net-zero plans and programmes and tackle new disclosure requirements, including tracking scope 3 emissions, while building longer-term sustainability strategies for buildings, transport and industry.  

Current programmes include those for Coventry Building Society, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Salix, and the Greater London Authority. Alongside senior hires we have been recruiting our second year of specialist sustainability graduates which saw over 3,000 applications.

James Hardy, UK Head of Sustainability, said:  

“Sustainability is the defining issue for today and the future and has a significant contribution to make in addressing key environmental and economic challenges for the public and private sector.”  

Many cities and businesses are leading from the front with ambitious, net-zero targets, and will need more support than ever, following recent national policy row-backs. We see more organisations moving from purpose statements and pledges to action to respond to a multitude of challenges such as higher energy costs, disclosure regulation and growing investor concerns over stranded assets.

“Our investment strategy for sustainability supports these goals, combining the ability to shape, evaluate and report on decarbonisation journeys with our longstanding sector expertise in buildings, transport and infrastructure. We’re excited to bring our new appointments into the fold, who will help respond to the growing demand for net-zero consultancy and programme expertise. Qian, Simon and Sara bring considerable additional firepower to the team, with a passion for our planet and a forensic approach to unpicking the challenges we face to protect it.”