BrazilExecutives once again name DSS the world’s top EHS consultancy
For the fifth year in a row, DuPont Sustainable Solutions (DSS) has been named the world’s leading consulting firm for environment, health & safety (EHS) services by decision-makers.
The survey by independent research house Verdantix canvassed the views of more than 300 senior executives – three-quarters of them working at $1+ billion companies – to gauge their views on the capabilities of consultancies active in the environment, health & safety domain.
The environment, health & safety market spans all strategic through to operational services related to ensuring that company strategies and operations are in tune with environmental goals, and to maintaining the health and safety of employees. Both segments of the industry have boomed over the past years, with the Covid-19 pandemic and changing perceptions the environment driving the agenda.
Growing awareness of climate change and the need for action – Europe’s pathway to climate-neutrality by 2050 alone is predicted to cost a staggering €28 trillion and require a major transformation at both public and private sector level – have propelled sustainability to the top of most boardroom agenda’s. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic has instantly turned health & safety into the world’s number 1 concern for any chief executive officer.
In navigating both these developments, corporates are supported by consultancies of all sizes and forms – the roughly $20 billion industry for environment, health & safety consulting services is served by hundreds of larger players, and in the thousands of boutiques operating across all corners of the globe.
The Verdantix survey set out to identify the globe’s top consultancy providers, asking executives one basic question: which firm has the strongest capabilities in the market? The outcome is hardly surprising: the globe’s leading players continue their dominance (17 of the top 20 players identified this year were also part of the 2019 ranking), and once again, the top award went to DuPont Sustainable Solutions.
Heading the prestigious ranking for the fifth consecutive year, DuPont Sustainable Solutions is a global provider of operations management consulting services. The firm used to be a unit of chemicals giant DuPont, but spun-off from its parent in September 2019 (backed by private equity) to pursue an independent strategy.
Over the past two years, the firm has reaped the dividends from its independence – managing to grow its headcount during the pandemic, diversifying its portfolio to become an operations transformation partner, and cementing its position as the leading environment, health & safety consultancy.
The latter was fueled by a number of investments. In the sustainability segment, DuPont Sustainable Solutions added a number of new offerings and earlier this year beefed up its capabilities through the bolt-on of KKS Advisors, while in the health & safety segment, the firm deepened its portfolio with a range of tech offerings and solutions.
“At DuPont Sustainable Solutions, we have always been guided by the belief that helping our clients integrate EHS and operations management is essential to driving enterprise-wide transformation that will enable them to successfully protect their people, improve their operations and create a sustainable future,” said Davide Vassallo, Chief Executive Officer of DuPont Sustainable Solutions.
“We are grateful to be recognised as the top environment, health & safety consulting firm for a remarkable five years in a row,” added the Italian-origin executive.
According to Verdantix’s survey, nearly forty percent of executives assess the capabilities of DuPont Sustainable Solutions as either market-leading or strong. The number two in the list, Aecom, scores twenty six percent for these categories, with WSP, Deloitte and Arcadis rounding off the top five.
Other consultancies that rank in the top twenty are (in order of rank from #6 to #20): Capgemini, Golder, Jacobs, Lloyd's Register, ERM, Accenture, EY, Trinity Consultants, GHD, Dekra Insight, Langan, Clean Harbors, Stantec, Tetra Tech and Ramboll.
