Environmental Policy, Strategy, Business Planning/Development

Clarity Environment staff have long experience in senior technical, advocacy, business and policymaking roles and are regarded as important thought leaders internationally, particularly on buildings, infrastructure and the environment.

Clarity staff have worked in Government (UK), Business (UK and Australia) and in the not-for profit sector (US) in senior roles and can bring to bear expertise and experience in Policy informing research (Federal and State), in sustainable business planning, in sustainability rating systems and demonstration projects (Energy and Environment).

UK work on the drivers for change in sustainability underpin this service offering – recognising environmental, economic and social drivers and the role of different stakeholders in influencing change.

International work on how different stakeholders weigh up different sustainability issues extends this offering. Weightings research is contentious but reveals some very surprising results – contrary to expectations, there is an astonishing degree of consensus even between stakeholders that would not typically be expected to agree. Businessmen turn out to weight sustainability impacts almost identically to environmental activists. This consensus seems to span countries (UK, US, Au NZ and Japan – NB all developed economies), demographic groups (sex, age, income) and is surprisingly stable over time (surveys from 1997 to 2011. So, although the semantics of a single universally accepted definition of sustainability or sustainable development have proved elusive, at a practical level, we do all seem to share a common set of values about what matters and what the priorities should be for action. Weightings surveys reveal the common ground in disparate positions in public consultations and can be used to set priorities in policymaking, business planning and strategy and in any environmental/sustainability assessment. Weightings provide potent practical implementable outcomes in a wide range of applications.

As a founder member of the World Green Building Council and the International Initiative for Sustainability in the Built Environment, Nigel Howard has spent much of his career assisting the formation and development of Green Building Councils and Green Building Rating Systems internationally. He has contributed to developing them as sustainable businesses (without losing sight of their altruistic missions) and to developing technically robust Building and Infrastructure Rating Tools that engage the public, business and environmental groups. This valuable experience gives him a deep understanding of the practical, Political, political and business aspects of promoting sustainable change . Clarity also has access to an international network of influential thought leaders in environmentally conscious business, government and academia.