“ I WOULD SAY I was into sustainability before it was called sustainability ,” muses Craig Riley , Leader of Corporate Advisory & Sustainability Services at AECOM . “ I was part of an early cohort of people who got technical degrees , in my case environmental science and chemistry , which are now the scientific underpinning of the sustainability discussion .”

Such discussion is firmly rooted into the minds of the conscious consumer ; consumers who are placing increasing pressure on organisations to demonstrate custodianship and be transparent about the provenance of their products and services .

Yet before the turn of the century , the term sustainability was something of an unknown beyond environmental circles . Even recycling , the simplest form of sustainable activity now so engrained into our everyday lives , barely entered the conscience .

So , why did Riley chose to go into the ( relatively ) unknown at the time he did ? “ This gets to the heart of the broader passion for my work ,” he

20 September 2017

CRAIG RILEY Leader of Corporate Advisory & Sustainability Services , AECOM