Anthesis acquires net zero consultancy Climate Neutral Group

Global sustainability consultancy Anthesis has sealed its second deal this month with the bolt-on of Climate Neutral Group.

Commenting on the acquisition, Stuart McLachlan, the CEO of Anthesis Group, said: “With Climate Neutral Group joining Anthesis, we can support our clients more comprehensively along their net zero journey by building on emissions avoidance and reduction efforts to applying climate finance for mitigation.”

Headquartered in the Netherlands with further offices in Belgium and South Africa, Climate Neutral Group is a specialist consulting firm focused on decarbonisation strategies and the execution of these plans.

Since its inception twenty years ago, Climate Neutral Group has supported more than 3,000 businesses with among others greenhouse gas footprinting, reduction and offsetting initiatives and greening of operations.

In addition, Climate Neutral Group is the owner of the ‘Climate Neutral Certified’ label, which verifies if a company or product’s CO2 emissions are reduced in line with the Paris Agreement. This label has over the years grown into a well-known standard to help organisations report their ongoing net zero efforts, with food multinationals like Ahold Delhaize and Arla Foods using the standard on their consumer goods.

“This deal strengthens our full-service net zero offering from avoidance and reduction strategies to the provision of high-quality carbon offsetting, technology innovation, extensive project development capabilities and certification,” said McLachlan.

The integration will see the 50-strong team of Climate Neutral Group become part of Anthesis, with Managing Director René Toet joining the Anthesis leadership team.

Meanwhile, for the Dutch consultancy, the joining of forces will enable the firm to broaden its service to other parts of the sustainability and ESG value chain. “Our clients will benefit from the global Anthesis network and access to its industry leading experts. The size and ambition of Anthesis will create development opportunities and accelerate the impact of our work,” said Toet.

Anthesis Group (which is private-equity backed) has around 800 sustainability specialists working from offices in 20 countries. The firm serves over 2,500 clients worldwide. Two weeks ago, the group bolstered its presence in Canada with Provision Coalition, a consultancy focused on sustainability in the agri-food sector.

In a similar move last year, Sustainalize – another Dutch-origin sustainability consultancy – also joined a global consulting player dedicated to sustainability, ERM.