The independent panel of judges for the IJGlobal ESG Awards 2024 chose Arup as the winner of the technical advisory trophy with one saying it is “still the leading technical adviser in Europe”.

The judges were full of praise for Arup with one saying it was providing “good technical advisory in area of need increasingly globally required” and another saying it has displayed “a wide range of capabilities globally and backed it up with excellent examples”.

Another of the judges said that “Arup has demonstrated clear successes and some innovation through developing the dHub” and this was supported by another who added: “The dHub EU Taxonomy module is truly impressive.”

Arup developed a dHub EU Taxonomy module in response to the prominence of EU Taxonomy in decision making both for investors and lenders, offering a range of functionalities to facilitate compliance and decision-making related to sustainable investments.

The tool provides a comprehensive list of economic activities that can be updated to reflect changes and/or new developments, allows for access to relevant environmental and sustainability data, enabling users to assess their activities alignment with the EU Taxonomy criteria and generates reports to demonstrate compliance and transparency.

The platform can analyse portfolios to identify areas where compliance is not met and provide guidance to meet requirements. As this is an evolving regulatory landscape, clients have access to the platform after conclusion of work to help ensure ongoing compliance.

The submission states: “Another area that has been identified as a potential barrier to improved ESG performance, is the internal structure and skills of businesses. Without the right people with the necessary knowledge, skills, experience and awareness, ESG goals may never be realised.

“That is why we have collaborated with our operational consulting colleagues to provide integrated advice as to the readiness of organisations to deliver on their ESG ambitions including tangible recommendations for how organisations may need to change or adapt.

“This may be in the form of bespoke action plans setting out the need, solution and where possible potential cost implications to provide a clear way forward.”

A good example of Arup’s market activity was when it was appointed by KKR for technical and ESG due diligence on its acquisition of Encavis, a European portfolio of renewable energy assets.

The ESG due diligence involved a sustainable finance screening to assess the sustainability credentials of the company against the sustainable finance disclosure regulation (SFDR) and the EU Taxonomy.

As part of this, the Arup team assessed the company’s readiness to report against the principle adverse impacts (PAIs) as set out in SFDR through a detailed analysis of the qualitative and quantitative information communicated in public ESG reporting, and an assessment of the company’s human and labour rights track record.

A significant part of Arup’s work involved a detailed review of the Encavis supply chain management, with a particular focus on solar panel suppliers in China.

Arup evaluated how Encavis mitigated and responded to labour and human rights risks, ensuring that their operations align with international standards and best practices.

The insights gained from this project are expected to inform future investment decisions and contribute to the overall growth and success of KKR’s portfolio.

In addition, Encavis is currently using the findings from the ESG due diligence process to inform short, medium, and long-term ESG action planning.

Arup was also mandated for ESG due diligence in support of Ardian’s acquisition of Verne Holdings – a leading northern European data centre platform. This acquisition encompasses expansive campuses located in the UK, Iceland and Finland.

The submission states: “In our quest to provide a holistic view, we delved into the core ESG aspects, alongside innovative factors such as energy performance metrics and natural hazard assessments.”

It continued: “Utilising Arup’s proprietary ESG maturity framework, we benchmarked Verne Global against sectoral and industry-wide standards. This strategic analysis highlighted potential areas for enhancement, aligning with best practice benchmarks and setting a precedent for industry excellence.