It is four months since Philippa Spence took the helm of Ramboll’s 3000-strong Environment and Health (E&H) division.

And while she says it’s been an “amazing” year for the business, the scale of the global environmental challenge continues to be significant.

As head of the E&H division, Spence oversees Ramboll’s largest and most profitable market, which holds a top-10 position globally among environmental consultancies.

“What has really struck me since starting the role is the scale of the opportunities, which is a difficult message in some ways,” she said.

“The scale is so significant because we have such an environmental, biodiversity and climate crisis. That’s the sad part of it.

“But being a business that can genuinely provide practical solutions to clients – but also positively impact the environment and the people that rely on it – is really important work.”

It’s been a return to a familiar sector for Spence, having led the company’s E&H division in the UK from 2019-2021.

She also chairs the Environment Industries Commission (EIC) where she is a passionate advocate for the environment alongside her role at Ramboll.

In September Spence was keynote speaker at the EIC’s One Crisis: A One Solution event which brought industry together to tackle the environment, biodiversity and climate crisis.

With 2025 just around the corner, and the road to net zero 2030 just six years away, Spence said there is much to be done to keep that target in sight. And thankfully attitudes are changing at boardroom level.

“Where environmental services might have been on the periphery of the core business of the clients we serve, it’s now centre ground.

“We’re seeing board room accountability; it has become central to the discussion. That’s a really big shift.”

She added: “There’s two things that drive the market – regulation and money. And by money that’s firms and institution willing to invest to ensure their risks are managed.

“In the UK we’ve hard wired regulation to drive the market.”

She says many EU countries are now bringing laws into their regulations – with the rest set to complete in 2025, which will drive further growth.

And in the UK, a new government should have a material impact on the speed with which newer environmental services come online – or not.

“At the beginning for 2024 I was very nervous,” she added, “because we had uncertainty about what was going to turn into policy and regulation – apart from the Energy Act and the Environment Act which were great pieces of legislation in my opinion.

“And that uncertainty meant we weren’t getting a lot of inward investment.

“But there is certainty of leadership now and the Labour government has committed to key areas of clean energy, water quality improvement – which is obvious and desperately needed – biodiversity and nature restoration and agriculture and good land use.

“And I think the government is staying true to that.”

She said early post-election announcements such as September’s Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6, which gave support to 131 new green infrastructure projects, showed a willingness to put the environment centre stage.

It was the biggest round ever with significant numbers for onshore wind, solar and tidal energy, which will power the equivalent of 11 million British homes.

 “To have 131 projects funded is a great outcome,” she added. “It’s not enough, but it’s a great start.

“But what I love is it’s evidence, it’s a reality that they’re taking this seriously.”

As for the road to the net zero, Spence says it’s about keeping the target’s ambition at the forefront of action.

She said the previous government’s decision to change the deadline for the ban on new petrol and diesel cars and new gas fired boilers from 2030 to 2035 sent out a “bad signal” to the country in terms of the need to keep driving the green agenda forward.

“If you really want to get something done, you have to set an ambitious target,” she said.

“You know at the time you might not quite hit it quite when you thought you would, but that doesn’t lessen the energy.

“If you don’t set targets, you’re very unlikely to succeed.

“The truth is we may not hit 2030, but if we hit it by 2035 my goodness what an amazing achievement that would be.”