Only 26% of Sustainability Consultants Work Full Time on Green Issues

Some 49 percent of sustainability consultants believe business conditions are somewhat or very strong today even though just 26 percent of them work full-time in sustainability, according to a survey by Green Research.

Despite such a low percentage of consultants working full-time on green issues, they generally see a bright future for their trade, with 62 percent expecting a strong business environment six months from now, according to Global Sustainability Consultant Survey, 2012.

Consultants working in Asia-Pacific countries are the most upbeat of all. Some 68 percent of respondents from that region see a positive business outlook over the next six months, compared to 61 percent of those from the U.S. and 59 percent from the Euro-zone. This optimism has drawn many newcomers to the field: 40 percent of consultants have been at it for less than three years, the survey says.

Consultants are more likely to work in the manufacturing sector than in any other field, according to the survey. Some 45 percent of consultants surveyed worked on projects in that sector last year, while 39 percent worked in the public or governmental sector and 33 percent worked in the construction sector.

A survey out in November by Verdantix suggests that only a handful of firms excel when providing major companies with corporate-wide sustainability visions. Green Quadrant Sustainability Business Consulting 2011 named Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers as examples of such exemplar consultancies.