Case Study

NEW ZEALAND PILOT OF THE

CORPORATE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
REVIEW CASE STUDY: URS
ABOUT URS
URS provides engineering and environmental services to public agencies and private
sector companies around New Zealand internationally, for a variety of industries, including
“URS has been a member transportation, water resources, property development, facilities, forestry, agriculture,
of SBC, and before that manufacturing, mining, oil & gas, telecommunications, power and waste industries.
NZBCSD, for over a decade
and we pride ourselves The company seeks to continuously improve sustainability of internal operations, as well
on actively encouraging as services provided to clients, through their ‘The Things We Value’ programme.
sustainable development
in New Zealand. The Internationally, URS has leading experts who apply ecosystem services methodology to
Business and Biodiversity a range of projects. This includes assessments of the environmental and social impacts of
work stream appealed to large infrastructure projects; incorporating ecosystem services values into public and private
decision-making; development of ecosystem services markets; and natural capital accounting.
us as it addresses issues
related to New Zealand’s
most important asset – its WHY URS PILOTED THE ESR
natural environment – and The Sustainable Business Council’s Business and Biodiversity work stream offered an
the benefits our society and opportunity for URS to test the Corporate Ecosystems Services Review (ESR)1 methodology
economy derive from it. in the local context, working in conjunction with a range of stakeholders. The URS
The project introduced a internal ‘3i Programme’ focuses on innovation, integration and involvement in all aspects
new language of ecosystem of the business. The company saw the potential for the ESR process to enhance all three
services to our planners and aspects of this programme by encouraging cross-disciplinary thinking and cross-sector
engineers and helped build a cooperation with clients, regulators and other stakeholders.
business case for developing
further capability in green The company hoped that the project would allow them to engage with a number of
strategic clients and explore how the ecosystem services approach could enhance their
infrastructure and ecosystem
own traditional services.
services assessment.”

Mark Drury, CEO,

URS New Zealand

Justine Bennett and Caroline Secretin, Water Quality Scientists at URS inspect green
infrastructure in Auckland Victoria Park. Victoria Park is an example near our office
where green infrastructure provides multiple benefits including amenities, air quality and
storm water management.

1
www.wri.org/publication/corporate-ecosystem-services-review URS CASE STUDY 1
HOW URS USED THE ESR PROCESS in natural systems. In the urban context with high population
URS created a dedicated project team of five specialists who levels and often significantly degraded environment, the
combined technical knowledge with business development engineering services either enhance the services provided by
responsibilities. The team remained the same throughout the nature or, in some extreme cases, substitute it entirely. There
project to ensure they could build on shared understanding is a clear understanding of the need to appreciate the natural
developed at each stage of the project. They ensured that systems and to account for them in planning and design,
the key driver of the project was to link the ESR results to as well as a desire to incorporate ecosystem solutions to
the way URS generates value for their customers. The project provide a variety of wider benefits. As a result, the prioritised
was strongly supported by senior management. ecosystem services include:

URS expected that the review was likely to generate Provisioning - Freshwater
more valuable insights if external stakeholders were
engaged in the process. Consequently, the project involved Regulating - Global and regional climate change, erosion
clients, regulators and the academic community. Clients’ control, natural hazard mitigation, regulation of water timing
contributions helped cement the business case for taking an and flows, water purification and waste treatment
ESR approach, and the regulators and academics facilitated
access to some specialised data. Cultural - Ethical and spiritual values

The project ran from the end of 2013 until mid-2014 and
consisted of three workshops – an ecosystem services TRENDS, RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES
introduction and scoping in December, a prioritisation The ESR guides an analysis of the conditions or trends
workshop in February 2014, and an opportunities, risks and in the ecosystem services prioritised, as well as drivers
action plan workshop in June 2014. of environmental change that significantly influence
those trends. The ESR then helps evaluate how trends can
URS used New Zealand academic papers on ecosystem impact the company, either positively or negatively.
valuation and ecosystem classification, international literature
on green infrastructure, and ecosystem services case studies Ecosystems in the Auckland region (Figure 1.) provide
from URS UK experts to undertake the review of conditions services valued at 10% GDP.2 Of that 10%, wetlands,
and trends. The team already held a lot of knowledge in waterways, estuaries, and native forest play the most
regards to trends and opportunities. Interviews with clients important role in providing the services prioritised in the URS
and other stakeholders were also very useful, especially review. Urban open spaces also play a relatively important
to better understand future plans, strategic direction and role due to their location and proximity to populations.
aspirations. The research was an iterative process, revisited Overall, the level and quality of ecosystem services in the
at each stage to support first the analysis and then to Auckland region is declining due to growing demand and
underpin the action plan. increasing pressure related to urban development and
intensive farming.

SCOPE OF ASSESSMENT The key risks identified by the project concern the increasing
The scope of the review was confined to the services offered costs of infrastructure related to supplementing or substituting
to the water sector customers in Auckland. Both the location ecosystem services such as freshwater, water purification or
– Auckland - and the selected service category – water - natural hazards mitigation. Climate forecasts for Auckland
are of strategic importance to URS, and the company felt suggest increased intensity of rainfall events, as well as more
an investigation of impacts and dependencies on natural frequent droughts, which in turn will result in increased
ecosystems would generate valuable insights for themselves performance requirements for the infrastructure and increased
and customers alike. likelihood of damage. This will mean additional costs related
to the upgrade and maintenance of existing infrastructure.

PRIORITY ECOSYSTEM SERVICES Application of ecosystems-based solutions such as green

The ESR enables the company to prioritise a few key infrastructure to manage storm water at source could reduce
ecosystem services by evaluating the degree of the those costs, while providing other benefits like improved
company’s dependence and/or impact on a range of air quality, amenities and noise mitigation. Other key
ecosystem services. opportunities identified in the process include incorporating
the ecosystem services approach into catchment planning and
URS water services include planning, consenting and design land management, demand management, and development of
of water infrastructure and as such they closely interact with market mechanisms for biodiversity related values.
a number of water-related services provided by ecosystems

2
Paterson et al. 2011. Ecosystem service appropriation in the Auckland region economy: an input-output analysis.
Regional Studies 45: 333-350
URS CASE STUDY 2
 Freshwater Ecosystems Land Ecosystems All Ecosystems
Urban built land
7% Mines
Urban open space
Rivers 2% <1%
1%
Water holes Freshwater
11% wetlands
1%
Scrub Land
12% 30%
Agriculture
Estuaries
Exotic and 56% Coastal marine
26%
indigenous forest zone
23% 69%
Mangrove swamps
61% Freshwater
1%

Horticulture
<1%

Figure 1: Ecosystems in Auckland region (Landcare Research 2013. Ecosystem Services in New Zealand. Manaki Whenua Press)

STRATEGY AND NEXT STEPS services approach worked best when carefully dovetailed into
As a result of the review and conversations with stakeholders, an existing framework of sustainability reporting, Assessment
URS has confirmed the business case for applying ecosystem of Environmental Effects (AEE) processes, spatial planning,
services framework to their work. They plan to support the infrastructure development, and stakeholder engagement.
regulators and clients in the development of appropriate
mechanisms to incorporate ecosystem thinking into planning Some of the key benefits that application of the ecosystem
and infrastructure design. They will use the results of their services thinking is likely to generate include:
ESR project to increase awareness of ecosystem-related • Better quantification (economic and social) of
risks and opportunities, and to actively participate in policy environmental considerations for inclusion in feasibility
development in this area. studies.
• Consideration of dependencies on ecosystem services (e.g.
URS is also investigating how to expand local capability in water quality) as well as impacts.
relation to green infrastructure design and ecosystem services • Cross-disciplinary review of specialist reports in the AEEs.
valuation. • Ability to define mitigation measures so that they provide
ecosystem benefits for the project or the organisation
The company plans to contribute to ecosystem services undertaking it.
awareness in New Zealand, by engaging with both clients and • More holistic view of stakeholders (the beneficiaries) and
regulators and looking for practical ways to apply local and a judgement-free language to use in consultation.
international expertise.
Overall, the project team agreed that the ESR was a well-
“The ESR approach aligns well with the objectives structured methodology, which provides a checklist to ensure
of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater that ecosystem considerations are fully understood. It can
Management and provides a potential mechanism for also provide a holistic framework to engage stakeholders in
increasing stakeholder input in the management of discussions on strategic plans for water management in the
NZs water resources. This is empowering for those region.
directly involved and it will be exciting for us in the
industry to experience the interplay of community Internally, it provided an opportunity to engage new staff,
and stakeholder values and environmental outcomes.” question company practices, and search for new ways of
Justine Bennett, Principal Water Resources Engineer, improving what they do. The project explored impacts of
URS New Zealand their advice on activities of clients and, as such, went beyond
current scope of Environmental Management Systems (EMS)
reporting, challenging URS to include wider ecosystem
OUTCOMES AND ADVICE considerations as well.
ESR proved to be a very relevant methodology for URS as it
connected clearly to the way the business generates value “Although the language of sustainability is well
– through the engineering and environmental services they embedded at URS, it was a great way to explore new
provide. They see potential for an ecosystems approach to thinking and to challenge ourselves.”
further enhance services by better engaging stakeholders, - Marta Karlik-Neale, Senior Associate Sustainability,
providing opportunities for synergies in mitigation strategies, URS New Zealand
and encouraging innovation and the use of ecosystem
components in infrastructure design. URS found the ecosystem www.urs.co.nz

URS CASE STUDY 3

URS would like to thank and acknowledge Karen Creagh,
Advisor, Specialist Water, Environmental Strategy and Policy,
and Sue-Ellen Fenelon, Senior Catchment Planning Specialist,
from Auckland Council for their input to this case study.

ABOUT SBC ECOSYSTEM HEALTH PROGRAMME

The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) is an executive-led group of companies that catalyses the New Zealand business
community to have a leading role in creating a sustainable future for business, society and the environment. Ecosystem Health
is one of the priority areas in the SBC work programme, with projects that aim to help members understand their dependencies
and impacts on the ecosystem and how this affects their business strategy and resource use.

www.sbc.org.nz

In collaboration with:

URS CASE STUDY 4