A New Earth and Environment leader shares his observations on trends in the environment industry and WSPs increasing sophistication to protect public safety.
Northampton, MA –News Direct – WSP
Dennis Papilion The new president of WSP USA’s Earth & Environment business (E&E).During his nearly thirty years of experience in engineering and environmental management, he has seen many changes.
He and his teams have been in positions of increasing responsibility at large firms and have navigated the changing policies, regulatory philosophies, and funding priorities that result from presidential and congressional election results, as well the ups, and downs, of the business cycle.
Papilion expressed optimism regarding current trends in environmental segments and WSPs increasing sophistication as it serves clients, protects public health, and uses natural resources.
Among the trends that excite Papilion
-
The integration of climate changes into financial regulation and investor strategies is on the rise.
-
WSPs ongoing evolution to a top consulting and advisory firm for sustainability, climate change mitigation and management risk management continues.
-
Greater incorporation of resilience and conservation into large-scale public- and private sector projects
He also spoke about the important opportunities for WSP to address these trends, and improve our position in the environment industry.
-
To cross-sell new services to clients and private sector industries, WSPs recently acquired companies such as Golder and EarthCon (CFA) will use the expertise of WSPs.
-
Utilize new technologies and apps from WSP and other acquisitions to position yourself for larger multiyear remediation or restoration projects.
1. What is the current state of the market for environmental service? And what are your expectations for the next two years.
The environmental market is booming. This is due to increased social and scientific awareness, industry response to climate change, and the focus on environmental socio governance (ESG), and the change in presidential administrations for 2021. President Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is initiating new rulemakings in an effort to reverse the rollbacks made by the previous administration, particularly those that relate to climate change. He has also requested an increase in the EPA budget of more than 20% for the upcoming fiscal year.
Well also sees large growth from infrastructure spending.
WSP USA and other environmental companies must increase their staff resources to meet these demands. Companies are constantly looking for industry veterans and specialists to join their ranks. This creates a battle for talent.
Many leaders of the Baby Boom generation are retiring soon or will soon. We were therefore focused on recruiting new grads and working with high schools to teach students about the increasing opportunities in the engineering and environmental fields.
2. What can WSP USA do internally in preparation for the generational leadership change?
Facilitate training. WSP has a lot of talent and we need to provide more training to help junior- and middle-level staff meet the demands of clients and projects. Additional training is necessary to keep up with changing specialties.
Climate-related financial disclosures and analyses is one emerging specialty that we are particularly focused on developing our internal capabilities and capacity. CFA is a small, trusted consultancy that has built a strong reputation with multilateral funders like The World Bank and a wide range of private sector organizations and governments. I’m very excited to welcome the CFA team.
3. How is the climate crisis affecting financial practices and what can WSP do for clients?
This is a new priority that has gained real momentum over the past several years. Investors and lenders are requesting that companies assess and disclose their climate risk. This includes the transition risks from changing energy and environmental policies, as well as the physical risks like extreme weather and sea-level rise. They also want to know how they plan to address those risks.
The Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosure and the Global Reporting Initiative, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and International Integrated Reporting Framework Board are all demanding greater integrity and transparency in relation to climate, governance (ESG), as well as general climate.
We are expanding our workforce to meet these growing needs. We also draw on the CFA acquisition and other experts on climate resilience and sustainability to provide cross-training as well as specialized support. This is the big picture: Our service portfolio is evolving from traditional environmental science, engineering and design to strong advisory capabilities around the massive transition that is taking place.
The most recent Verdantix Green Quadrant ReportWSP was ranked alongside ERM, EY, and PwC as the top four sustainability and ESG consulting firms. This is a reflection of what we have already achieved.
4. What other trends do see influencing the environmental markets in the coming year?
Corporate clients are changing their approach to regulatory compliance. They are now evaluating the risks across all of their assets. This is driven by the priorities of the Biden Administrations.
Managers of companies with environmental responsibilities have taken a more active role in meeting environmental requirements, after the previous administration had less emphasis on enforcement.
5. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently reviewing the EPA’s application of Clean Air Act to greenhouse gasses. Are you concerned that a negative decision could decrease the pressure on large emitters
Large companies involved in oil and gas, electricity, and other emission-intensive industries know that the long term trend is towards reducing GHGs and shifting business models to lower-carbon activities. They are hearing this from their institutional investors, lenders and customers as well as other stakeholders.
An adverse decision could decrease regulatory pressure on large emitters, but long-term trends are clear.
6. What will the $1.7 Trillion Build Back Better infrastructure bill package have to do with environmental services?
Here are a few things. One, all infrastructure projects will require environmental assessments and mitigations. This will increase our business and force us to hire more staff to ensure regulatory compliance and avoid unnecessary delays.
Long-lasting infrastructure will be needed for resilience and mitigation of greenhouse gases. This is an evolving goal. This could be described as creating a resilient structure with the use of composite materials. It also includes designs that can withstand climate change’s impacts, such as sea level rise. It also includes the construction processes and materials.
It is becoming more important to clearly define how these infrastructure projects will contribute to greenhouse gas reductions. This is an opportunity for environmentalists to work with engineers. This is one aspect that I believe will be a major influence on how these large-scale projects are designed.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of Dennis Papilion’s environmental business observations.
[To subscribe to Insights, contact the editorial staff at [email protected].]View additional multimedia and ESG storytelling from WSP at 3blmedia.com
View the source version at newsdirect.com https://newsdirect.com/news/environment-business-observations-with-wsp-usas-dennis-papilion-part-1-258796119
