DNV has supervised the Client Consultancy Project (CCP) for the MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development programme since 2020, which involves a selected group of students gaining exposure, experience and mentoring from DNV’s sustainability consultants to solve ESG-related issues for real-life clients and scenarios over a period of eight weeks, starting from January every year.

Each year has a theme, usually an emerging or timely issue that businesses are starting to face, which forms the basis of the consultancy project. This year’s theme is ‘The factors leading companies to green-hush and how to overcome them’. Green-hushing is where, in some cases, companies are starting to decide not to publish their plans, progress against targets, or recent achievements for fear of public scrutiny or reprisal around potential greenwashing, which may be driving them to not disclose enough.

Souvik Ghosh, Director – ESG & Sustainability at DNV UK

Souvik Ghosh, Director – ESG & Sustainability at DNV UK, said, “It is hugely important for academia and experienced industry practitioners to collaborate in solving some of the biggest sustainability-related problems for businesses globally.

“Through working with Cambridge University’s Centre for Sustainable Development, we have created the opportunity to combine learnings from industry, research, policy and practice to ultimately help shape businesses’ sustainability strategies, improve methods of analysis and reporting on ESG-related issues, mitigate risks – whether related to environmental protection, regulatory compliance, public safety or reputation, and equip some of the best analytical brains with a broad range of consulting skills.

“We’re delighted to play a key role in this innovative project, enabling us to offer some students positions as sustainability consultants as a result of the process, and to provide enhanced insights to clients on these topical issues.”

Shuhaib Maudarbaccus, Senior Sustainability Consultant at DNV UK

Shuhaib Maudarbaccus, Senior Sustainability Consultant at DNV UK and recent graduate of the MPhil Engineering for Sustainable Development programme, added, “Having had the chance to sit on both sides of the CCP process, I can vouch for the benefits to everyone involved. For the client, it provides a great opportunity for a talented team of postgraduate students to research a topic of interest to the business, but crucially, for the students, it provides a safe environment for them to test their consultancy and client-facing skills. It’s great to see how the students develop and refine their skills over the course of the eight-week project, and we always look forward to the high-quality deliverables from the students.”

Dr. Kristen MacAskill, an Assistant Professor in Engineering, Environment and Sustainable Development in Cambridge University’s Department of Engineering

Dr. Kristen MacAskill, an Assistant Professor in Engineering, Environment and Sustainable Development in Cambridge University’s Department of Engineering, said, “I’ve been overseeing the CCP for three years now, it’s so great to see both the clients and the students consistently getting such value out of it.”