WSP appoints a new Director of Strategic Advisory, Dr Katherine Ibbotson, to strengthen the Planning & Advisory business.
Katherine was named in the prestigious Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering list for 2020.
Championing carbon reduction
Katherine has a background in engineering and construction and has spent nearly 18 years at the Environment Agency, where she most recently led the Net Zero Carbon Infrastructure Programme and their internal Carbon and Cost team. In pivotal roles, Kat championed carbon reduction within project delivery, whole-life carbon quantification, alignment to cost estimating, benchmarking and improved standards.
Focus on net zero approaches
Kat’s role will focus on making net zero approaches and ways of working a business as usual activity, measuring and benchmarking the carbon impact of projects and providing strategic counsel on implementing low carbon solutions within infrastructure.
“There is no greater challenge to our society than climate change and consultancies such as WSP have an important role to play in advising clients on decarbonising their projects and strategies," explains Dr Katherine Ibbotson, Director, Strategic Advisory at WSP.
"Coming from the Environment Agency into the world’s largest environmental consultancy is a fantastic opportunity for me to effect change for our clients and progress towards a net zero carbon economy. WSP itself has committed to halving the carbon footprint of its designs and advice to clients by 2030 and there is real ambition within the team to move at pace.”
“Our Advisory team is involved in transformational projects across the UK and Kat’s wealth of knowledge from her time at the Environment Agency will offer a truly valuable perspective for our clients," adds Ian Liddell, Managing Director, Planning & Advisory at WSP.
"Kat’s expertise in carbon measurement, benchmarking and reduction will support both WSP and our clients’ net zero ambitions and I’m delighted to welcome her to the business.”

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