Given its location on a narrow spit of land, the village of Shaktoolik, Alaska is currently vulnerable to flooding and erosion by storms. This vulnerability will be exacerbated by effects of climate change.

 To support the community in their decision making regarding the need to adapt or relocate, we teamed with Bristol Engineering Services Company, an Alaskan Native Corporation, to provide a climate change vulnerability and risk assessment. 

 We used information from historical events and climate change inputs such as sea level rise, ice cover and wind condition to quantify flooding and erosion hazards. Community engagement sessions provided updates to the residents and sought feedback, including local knowledge of storms, sea ice conditions and community priorities regarding infrastructure at risk.

 Our findings are being used by the community of Shaktoolik to support decision making regarding relocation and adaptation options.

This work was performed by Golder professionals who joined WSP in an acquisition completed in 2021.

The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) carries gas 1800 km across Turkey, crossing nine distinct ecoregions and a variety of natural habitats along the way. TANAP is committed to managing the potential impacts of the project on biodiversity, with a priority placed on no net loss (NNL), or preferably net gain (NG).

 To support this, we developed an offset accounting method to calculate residual losses as well as gains generated by measures taken to increase biodiversity. Our approach used large datasets integrated in a GIS environment so losses and gains can be calculated for the project as a whole or distinct for each geographical ecoregion or key biodiversity features, including species and habitats.

 This accounting method helps identify effective offset opportunities and demonstrates NNL or NG in a way that highlights the rehabilitation activities undertaken by TANAP  for protecting biodiversity on the Anatolian Peninsula. 

This work was performed by Golder professionals who joined WSP in an acquisition completed in 2021.

WSP supported SABIC, one of the world’s leading petrochemical companies, in updating its carbon strategy and providing expert advice on carbon reduction measures for its production sites.

In 2011, SABIC announced a set of ambitious energy efficiency and carbon saving targets to help tackle climate change. WSP was appointed to help SABIC develop a roadmap to achieve the targets – including the corporate level target to reduce emission intensity (per tonne of product sold) by 25% by 2025. 

Our sustainability and climate change teams in the UK worked in partnership with colleagues in the UAE and the US, bringing together a group of 15 global experts to meet the client’s needs. Our expertise covered energy efficiency, carbon abatement technologies, carbon economics, life-cycle analysis and carbon disclosure. 

The team worked seamlessly with the client across various time zones and geographies to assess and prioritize different carbon reduction technologies for SABIC’s operations in the Middle East, Europe and the US.

Having a level playing field regarding environmental standards is important to ensuring that all countries have an equal chance of economic growth. This is particularly true in mining, where having a clear framework for closing a mine – the steps taken after mining activity has ceased – ensures environmental and social protection over the long term.

We supported the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in publishing the “Mine Closure Checklist for Governments”, which provides simple, practical mine closure guidance for government policy makers. While intended for use by the 21 APEC economies, the checklist is now used and referenced around the world.

This Guideline was developed with input from an APEC steering committee, and consultation with stakeholders and industry experts. The checklist is now available in pdf format in 4 languages (English, French, Mandarin and Spanish).

This work was performed by Golder professionals who joined WSP in an acquisition completed in 2021.

With help from WSP, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection secured over $10M in funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to restore wetlands and redevelop a landfill for active recreational within the intensely urbanized corridor of northeast New Jersey. In addition to removing uncharacterized fill from the shorelines of the Hackensack River, these efforts restored anadromous fish spawning habitat and supported an effort to establish more resilient coasts in the face of climate change.

More than 42 acres of tidal habitat were restored, including high marsh, open water and mud flats. More than 300,000 cubic yards of clean sand dredge spoils from the Hudson River Estuary were beneficially reused as the planting base of the marsh and over 250,000 cubic yards of illegally dumped debris were excavated. To restore tidal flushing, over 4,000 linear feet of new inter-tidal channels were carved into the restored marsh plain. In addition, walking trails and interpretive signs were established along the perimeter of the marsh.

The Lincoln Park Wetland Restoration Project won a Coastal America Partnership Award, which recognizes outstanding projects that make a significant contribution toward the restoration and protection of the United States’ coastal environment.  

The Royal Seaport, once an industrial harbour area, is Stockholm’s largest urban development. As it evolves, the project aims to push the boundaries of environmental sustainability standards. Ambitious strategies and targets for biodiversity, climate adaptation, recreation, health and high-quality green space have been set for public and private spaces.  

WSP adapted the Green Space Index (GSI), a tool that incentivises developers to use the appropriate “Green Area Factor” by including local species of vegetation for green spaces. The Royal Seaport is located next to the Royal National City Park, a landscape with broadleaved forests and meadows of high ecological and recreational value and an important habitat for oak-living species and amphibians. To better support the local ecosystem, WSP adapted the Green Space Index (GSI), a tool that incentivises developers to include local species of vegetation for green spaces.  The GSI tool incentivised the developers at the Royal Seaport to plant oak trees and build frog tunnels in appropriate areas of the development which strengthened the connectivity to the surrounding ecosystem.  

One of the goals of applying the GSI was to increase the knowledge of ecosystem services and the value of nature-based solutions in the urban landscape. The tool has also promoted a better understanding amongst developers and city planners about the types of vegetation that are most suitable in an urban context   

A 20-hectare deposit of polluted dredging spoils, accumulated over 40 years near the city of Gothenburg in Sweden’s industrial heartland, is getting a new life as a wetland.

When the soil deposition permit ended in 2009, the site had to be covered according to Swedish law, to prevent leakage and dispersion of polluted materials. The location is near an area known for its bird and wildlife rich habitat, so after the area was sealed with a clay cover, a natural next step was to construct a wetland on top of the dredging spoils.

Our role was to develop a computer-based hydraulic model to simulate possible locations for water channels, to ensure a constant flow of water. We also performed laboratory and field tests to understand the settlement of the impacted spoils over time.

This area is well on its way of being a welcoming home for waterfowl.

This work was performed by Golder professionals who joined WSP in an acquisition completed in 2021.

WSP Buildings/Environmental collaboration uses timber to achieve 30% carbon reduction for client targeting net zero.

Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) approached WSP to reduce the carbon footprint of a new warehouse they were constructing for their fund, AIPUT. The project was to be delivered in line with AIPUT’s Carbon Strategy, which commits the fund to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025.

The building’s steel frame, typical of warehouse construction, was found to be one of the main hotspots for embedded carbon. This provided an opportunity to demonstrate how the lifecycle carbon footprint of the building could be reduced through the use of different materials.

WSP’s structural experts conducted a feasibility review of the existing structure, then proposed a complete change to the construction material whilst adhering to the geometric parameters of the building.

The environmental team modelled all the options, including the original steel design (the baseline model), and the net effect of adopting the chosen solution was a 30% cut of life carbon. From a baseline of c.1700 tonnes of carbon, the design modifications resulted in a saving of 500 tonnes.

Bell Canada, a telecommunications provider operating Canada-wide, competes to recruit the best and brightest employees, build shareholder value, and meet evolving regulatory and societal expectations. Now, the company is better able to meet these challenges through improved management of its energy footprint.

In partnering with us, Bell Canada becomes the first telecommunications company in North America to have its Energy Management System certified under the ISO 50001 standard. This international certification recognizes organizations that have a process in place to reduce their energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions, and implement energy efficiency measures.

We supported Bell to evaluate existing energy management programs, to identify gaps against the ISO standard, and suggest ways to improve.

As a result of earning this certification, Bell is better able to compete for employees, investors and a very competitive market.

This work was performed by Golder professionals who joined WSP in an acquisition completed in 2021.

In partnership with the Aqualie Institute, the Federal University of Juiz de Fora and State University of Santa Cruz, WSP is undertaking systematic conservation planning of cetaceans (whales) in the Espírito Santo, Campos and Santos basins of Brazil. The project, which is sponsored by companies in the seismic industry, aims to identify areas suitable for implementing cetacean conservation measures, particularly in places with human impact, such as those related to fishing, oil exploration and production, marine navigation routes and tourism. This work involved habitat mapping and modelling and is meant to assist in defining the wider role of public conservation policies for marine biodiversity.

Without transport decarbonisation, Manchester will not meet their 2038 Net Zero ambitions. Using the Government’s guidance from the Infrastructure & Projects Authority for improving Project and Programme Initiation, we worked with the TfGM Extended Leadership Team to undertake a Organisational Health Check and identify a route map to understand the scale and pace of organisational change required to meet this challenge. Building on the strong foundations TfGM already have in place, the strategy provides a series of priority recommendations to support TfGM in providing the leadership across Greater Manchester that is required to decarbonise the transport network across all modes. 

Windpeshi is a clean energy generation project taking place in indigenous communities' territories in La Guajira Peninsula, northern Colombia. The project entails the design, construction, operation and maintenance of a wind farm with approximately 200 MW of installed capacity through the installation of a maximum of 45 wind generators, a booster substation inside the wind farm, a 59.1 km long 220 kV transmission line and other supplementary works.

The project fulfils the National Government sustainable development objectives related to reasonable, efficient and non-polluting energy consumption, and the generation of clean energy that will add to protecting the biodiversity of the country, ensuring the reduction of the use of non-renewable natural energy sources, the diversification of the energy matrix of the country and the reduction of atmospheric emissions.