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by Arie Pille
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Summary 

I have received a job offer as a climate policy officer, but my current employer has suggested that I start a new project within the consulting firm where I work. Therefore, I am urgently looking for ideas for a high-impact project that is feasible within the context of a consulting firm.

Context 

I work as an environmental consultant at an engineering and consultancy firm. Inspired by effective altruism, I am seeking a job that has a greater impact on the well-being of people and other animals. I have now received a job offer to work as a policy officer, helping develop climate plans.

In response, my current boss has proposed that I start a new, out-of-the-box project within the company. He promises to support me and help build a team around the project. I need to respond to the government's job offer within a few days, so I don’t have much time to come up with a project idea within the company. That’s why I would like to seek help from the EA community to brainstorm possible ideas.

I realize that this is a broad and challenging question, and I would be very grateful for your input.

My Question 

  • What are your ideas for a high-impact project within a consulting firm? 
  • Which resources, contacts, or strategies might be helpful in answering this question? 
  • Do you have any other advice on making the choice between the two job options? (Climate policy officer vs. new project within a consulting firm)

Project Requirements

  • The project must be profitable.
  • The project must be feasible for a team of no more than 3 people (who would be supported by experts).
  • The project must align with our company's expertise (see below). I suspect that environmentally related projects (e.g., on climate change or air pollution) are most likely to receive support from the management team.
  • Relocating abroad is not an option for me. I live in the EU.
  • The project must have a greater impact on the well-being of people and other animals than I could achieve in a job as a climate policy officer.

Information about our company

  • Our company is one of the leading design and engineering firms in the fields of water, environment, mobility, and buildings. 
  • The company operates in 36 countries across all continents except Africa (and Antarctica). 
  • The company is not a contractor (it doesn’t execute the work) but handles all design and engineering tasks.

The expertise of our company

  • Chemical regulation (e.g., REACH) and LCA (Life Cycle Assessment)
  • Circular economy
  • Soil remediation
  • Environmental permits and environmental impact assessments (effects on water, air quality, biodiversity, etc.)
  • District heating networks
  • Electricity grids
  • Sustainability and biodiversity consultancy
  • Mobility solutions (design of roads, bridges, etc.)
  • Sewerage and water infrastructure
  • Building and factory design

Own Ideas 

  • The project could be an innovation (developing a new product or service). Additional funding for innovations can be obtained from the government. 
  • I suspect there are particularly opportunities within the following domains:
    • Air pollution
    • Climate change
    • Health effects of chemical substances
    • Water quality and availability in developing countries (this aligns with my own hydrogeological expertise) 
    • (I am certainly open to other domains as well.)
  • In terms of project output, given the context of a consulting firm, I see the following possibilities as most likely:
    • Research reports
    • (Digital) tools
    • Services for governments and companies (There are undoubtedly other possibilities as well.)

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Ulrik Horn

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Start exploring worst-case climate scenarios. Their likelihood and what might be done to quickly prevent them if in e.g. 2070 we see ourselves in a worse situation and need to fix it in e.g. 5 years (make estimates of funding available). Also explore how different regions might respond to such extreme scenarios. Basically a break the glass plan in case things go really badly.

Arie Pille3
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Thank you for your suggestion, Ulrik! I will integrate possible solutions to prevent or adapt to extreme climate change in my brainstorming exercise.

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Soemano Zeijlmans

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Try to see if your company's expertise match with any of the recommended fields of work by Giving Green and High Impact Engineers! Especially this latter link is probably interesting for you and your colleagues.

I think that @Ulrik Horn's suggestion about how to adapt to worst-case climate scenarios is a good one, especially if you focus on places that are likely severely hit but don't have adequate plans for adaptation yet. 

Some first ideas, going by the expertise of the company:

  • Chemical regulation (e.g., REACH) and LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) - Helping firms comply is probably not the most cost-effective, since compliance is mandatory, so they'll just find another consultancy firm. Counterfactual is probably low here.
  • Circular economy. I'd say this really depends on which sector you're trying to make circular. Something related to the circular use of rare earth materials for the energy transition seems promising, but this is still a broad theme.
  • Soil remediation. - Don't know enough to comment.
  • Environmental permits and environmental impact assessments (effects on water, air quality, biodiversity, etc.). Similar to my first comment - if this is for compliance, firms will hire a consultant anyway, so the counterfactual here is lower. If you do EIAs or permitting for important new environmental infrastructure (e.g. hot rock geothermal), this may be different.
  • District heating networks. This is interesting, if you can contribute to quickly deploying geothermal energy around the world! Talk with the folks at Project Innerspace to know more.
  • Electricity grids. There's a big potential here to electrify heavy industries that now rely on fossil fuels. The price of renewables has been dropping quite rapidly, but there's quite a challenge in using renewables for hard-to-decarbonise processes like cement. Talk to or visit the websites of e.g. Future Cleantech Architects, Clean Air Task Force, and Industrious Labs to know more! I reckon energy storage and load shifting could be interesting ones to look at too! And maybe easier to get government funding for.
  • Sustainability and biodiversity consultancy - A little to broad to comment on.
  • Mobility solutions (design of roads, bridges, etc.) - no comment
  • Sewerage and water infrastructure - EU countries have a lot of their sewerage and water infrastructure in order already, so within the EU I don't think this is the most cost-effective work on the margin. Some really innovative solutions could be interesting, perhaps. E.g. desalinisation?
  • Building and factory design. This seems promising. Lots of industrial processes are hard to get rid of (e.g. we'll need cement, and worldwide demand is set to increase!) but there hasn't been a lot of work on clean production in this area. Looking at cleaner production of cement, steel, or other industries seems promising, and factory design is probably a big part of that. Try to reach out to Industrious Labs!
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