CH2M Hill and Tetra Tech lead the global environmental consultancy market for the second consecutive year, which saw a 0.8 percent decrease to stand at $28.7 billion in 2013, according to new research by Environment Analyst.
The report, Global Environmental Consulting Strategies and Competitor Analysis 2014, finds the growth recorded in 2013 is significantly down on the 3.5 percent growth in 2012 and 4 percent increase in 2011, and is expected to recover to no more than 1.1 percent in 2014—reflecting the slight improvement in the global economic climate. The report says this is the market’s first dip since the impact of the global financial crisis in 2009, which reflects the slowdown in demand from key client sectors such as the US federal government and global mining industry.
The top 10 firms ranked in order of gross global EC revenues in 2013 include: CH2M Hill, Tetra Tech, Arcadis, URS Corporation (acquired by AECOM in 2014), Golder Associates, Environmental Resources Management, AECOM, AMEC Environment & Infrastructure, GHD and Grontmij NV and Cardno (both hold the 10th position). The next 14 are: Antea Group, MWH Global, RPS Group, Environ, Jacobs (inc. SKM Consulting), Parsons Brinckerhoff (owned by WSP Global from 2014), WorleyParsons, Royal HaskoningDHV, WSP Global, ICF International, Mott MacDonald, Atkins, SLR and Coffey International.
The environmental consultancy practices of these 25 firms account for a combined share of 46.3 percent of the total global market in 2013, but their aggregated revenue total was 1.4 percent down on the figure in 2012.
Only the top three companies—CH2M Hill, Tetra Tech and Arcadis—can claim overall market shares in excess of 4.5 percent, largely due to their strong positions in the dominant North American region, which accounts for 53 percent of the sector total.
Despite this, the global environmental industry grew 3.6 percent in 2013, generating revenues of $1.047 trillion, while the U.S. environmental industry grew only 0.7 percent in 2013 compared to 4.5 percent in 2012, according to research from Environmental Business International. In 2013, the U.S. environmental industry’s total of $344.84 billion in annual revenues represented 2.81 percent of the gross domestic product, while the environmental industry employment reached 1.75 million.
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Founder & Principal Consultant, Hower Impact
Mike Hower is the founder of Hower Impact — a boutique consultancy delivering best-in-class strategic communication advisory and support for corporate sustainability, ESG and climate tech.
Published Jan 12, 2015 10am EST / 7am PST / 3pm GMT / 4pm CET