Aurecon launches New Zealand sustainability and climate change advisory team

New advisory team will help Aurecon clients manage their infrastructure assets and sustainability and climate change risks and opportunities.

Design, engineering and advisory organisation, Aurecon, has launched its latest advisory team in Aotearoa New Zealand, specialising in sustainability and climate change, as organisations across the country look to reduce their carbon footprint and become more sustainable and resilient to climate change.

Consisting of two streams, decarbonisation and sustainability and resilience, the rapidly growing practice now boasts experts from across New Zealand and will continue to be closely interconnected with its Australian counterpart to ensure the best expertise from across the business will be brought to clients in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Tom Walmsley, Aurecon’s New Zealand managing principal for advisory, said: “2023 is poised to be a year full of exciting opportunities for our advisory business in Aotearoa New Zealand. We have made fantastic progress in activating our advisory strategy, thanks to the outstanding collaboration, energy and commitment across our business and clients over the past couple of years.

“By reinvigorating and consolidating our sustainability and climate change services, we are now developing a full-service model that supports our clients to understand and manage their infrastructure assets and sustainability and climate change risks and opportunities.

Launching the Aotearoa New Zealand sustainability and climate change team marks a major milestone for Aurecon’s advisory business. Apart from drawing on the people and skills within Aurecon, they have also brought in some of the best leaders in the country, to super-charge the team’s growth.

Waning Chua, who recently came on board as director, sustainability and climate change, to head the decarbonisation team is one of Aurecon’s major external hires. Chua, who will be focusing on building decarbonisation and technology roadmaps for Aurecon’s clients, brings over 15 years’ experience, including nearly three years’ leading strategy at the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority before joining Aurecon.

Commenting on her new role, Chua said: “My passion for making a difference in peoples’ lives align with what we need to do collectively to combat the negative impacts of climate change. The question around decarbonising our economy is not an if, it’s a when. Our ability to understand what matters to clients, combined with our technical know-how, creates a unique value proposition. Adding value while delivering outcomes that leave a legacy for future generations. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Liz Root has stepped in to lead the sustainability and resilience team as director, sustainability and climate change. Root joined Aurecon in 2021 and has been providing key clients such as Waka Kotahi and KiwiRail a full suite of sustainability and climate change services, including carbon management, climate change risk screening, sustainability strategy and delivery of the Infrastructure Sustainability Council rating framework.

Root commented: “The extension and reorganisation of our sustainability and climate change team means that we now have greater capacity to bring our existing services under the sustainability and resilience team to a broader set of clients, as well as broadening our offering for clients in areas such as regional waste management, Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures, and regional climate change work.”

Aurecon has announced Waning Chua (left) and Liz Root (right) as new sustainability and climate change advisory team directors.