Meet Andrew Churchill – Sustainability Consultant here at Pathzero. Andrew’s passion for the environment is second nature after growing up surrounded by beaches and national parks, with environmentally conscious parents that led by example. Today, Andrew loves supporting Pathzero clients in achieving their sustainability goals.
Can you tell us about your role with Pathzero?
As a Sustainability Consultant, it’s my job to educate and aid clients in their sustainability journey.
For some clients, it’s their first time delving into the sustainability realm and understanding their company’s emissions. Other clients have an internal ESG [environmental, social, and governance] team with knowledge and understanding of the industry, who want to use our end-to-end carbon neutrality and Climate Active services.
No matter where they’re at, it’s my job to guide their sustainability journey by understanding their goals and helping them to attain those goals.
Specifically, I help clients measure, verify, reduce and report on their emissions using reputable standards such as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) standards, and technical guidance including Climate Active and the Science Based Targets initiative.
Guided by the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, we establish a client’s organisational boundaries by assessing their entity structure. With an understanding of their organisational boundaries, we can determine the best approach to consolidating their greenhouse gas emissions.
Based on the organisational boundaries established, we then determine the client’s operational boundaries. We do this by assessing the direct and indirect emissions attributed to their business operations. We include the client’s scope 1 and 2 emissions and apply the relevance test to determine which scope 3 emissions to include in their boundary.
Once both the organisational and operational boundaries have been established, we help clients to measure their emissions by inputting data into the Pathzero Navigator and Clarity platform.
We then verify and validate their emission boundary and data, respectively, before helping clients to establish decarbonisation strategies and provide offset opportunities.
Why do you work with Pathzero - what drives and inspires you?
Passion! My true passion is the environment and everything in it.
I thoroughly enjoy learning anything and everything about the environment and sustainability, especially topics related to reduction. I want to do whatever I can to help this world and the people in it. And with Pathzero and its mission to decarbonise the global economy I can make that happen.
Pathzero offers me the opportunity to engage with businesses and aid them in achieving their sustainability goals, regardless of how far along the journey they are.
I’m inspired by Pathzero’s mission, the leaders of the business, and their care for the environment. This ideal is something that our whole team wants to achieve and cares about.
The staff at Pathzero are honestly just amazing people and it’s a genuine pleasure to work with everyone. The company has a brilliant culture which, combined with the Pathzero platform and business ambition, is all the reason I need to work here.
Lastly, I’m inspired by the positives. There’s so much happening in this industry, regardless of whether it’s competitors making moves or certain sectors making headway. We are, all together, making progress – which is what we need to keep this planet progressing towards achieving the Paris-aligned targets.
Looking back, what led you to this career?
Some misdirection, job changes, failures and small wins! Plus, wonderful people giving me the opportunity to prove myself – like Verena Schubert, Senior Manager Sustainability here at Pathzero.
I’d definitely say that where I grew up and my family were a strong influence on my passion for the environment. I grew up on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, which is a stunning part of the world with gorgeous beaches and national parks.
Additionally, at an early age, my parents taught me how to dispose of waste correctly – I’d always see my Mum pick up rubbish on the street – and gardening. This instilled in me the values and love I have for nature, and the importance of keeping the environment clean and healthy.
Is there anything else that you’d like to share?
Other than the external influences that I’ve shared, I finished high school with the desire and aim to study Environmental Management. But I was informed by a careers adviser, who had only known me for 10 minutes, that I wouldn’t enjoy or be interested in it.
This led me to take a long-winded route to working in the environment and sustainability industry. I managed cafes for quite some time, worked at an advertising firm, then in solar, interned in sustainability roles, before finally securing a job following an internship.
This led me to where I am today. It’s a bit of a strange route to take, but I’m very happy to have made it and to be working for Pathzero.
The Pathzero solution
Pathzero unites private market participants including asset owners, asset managers and portfolio companies on a common platform enabling the disclosure of carbon emissions and the actions being taken to address them.
