Andrew Douglas was working in London when a friend’s sister asked if he would look after the financials for a film she was producing on climate change.
Keen for a change, Mr Douglas agreed, little realising his year-long involvement with the British docufiction film was to have a major impact on his future career trajectory.
Prior to the film’s release in 2009, he acknowledged he was not overly versed in climate change, aside from obviously knowing it was important to the environment.
The Age of Stupid, produced by former Dunedin Channel 9 news reporter Lizzie Gillett, starred Academy and Bafta Award nominated actor, the late Pete Postlethwaite, as a man living alone in a devastated world of 2055.
Coincidentally, Ms Gillett, who is London-based, was in the news this week after accepting a Bafta award for the documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve story.
The Age of Stupid set a record for the largest ever film premiere, premiering simultaneously on 62 screens across the UK, and former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan was among the luminaries at the New York premiere.
From his tenure with the film, Mr Douglas decided to try to stick with the climate change space and he got a job at the UK’s government agency Carbon Trust — an organisation with a mission to accelerate the move to a decarbonised future — which gave him a full grounding in the issue.
Back in Dunedin for the past few years, he is now managing director of Opportune Consulting, which boasts a three-person team of climate and sustainability advisers and auditors.
They work with organisations throughout New Zealand on greenhouse gas inventory development, verification, emission reduction plans, target setting, climate-related disclosures and full ESG sustainability measurement and reporting.
In what is a terribly complex space, Mr Douglas describes himself simply as a carbon accountant; Opportune’s mission was to help organisations with their sustainability journey and transition towards a low-carbon future.
Brought up in Dunedin, Mr Douglas completed degrees in commerce (accounting) and science (information technology) at the University of Otago, before moving to Wellington for his first job at PricewaterhouseCoopers working in risk management and internal audit.
After about five years, it was time for his OE and he headed to London with the intention of staying for “a year or two” but ended up being there for six.
He did a mix of jobs in those first few years but, after burning out — similar to what he had done in Wellington where he worked long hours — he decided it was time for a change. That coincided with The Age of Stupid and his subsequent foray into the world of carbon accounting.
Several years passed at the Carbon Trust, where he led the delivery of carbon reporting and verification, before he and his wife Jenny decided New Zealand was the best place to raise a family, following the arrival of their first child.
A job opportunity arose at PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Douglas family moved back in 2012.
While it was exciting to return home, it did take several years to settle, both in terms of family life and being back at PwC, where he became a director, he said.
At that stage, there was not much happening in the climate space so he went back to his traditional area and worked in a compliance and advisory role, but his interest in climate change did not diminish and he wanted to keep a hand in.
When PwC closed its Dunedin office, that was Mr Douglas’ chance to start his own firm, initially in his traditional advisory and assurance space, but then the climate and emissions side grew from there. Three years ago, he decided to concentrate on carbon accounting and auditing.
There were a whole lot of rules and regulations which people were trying to learn and apply to their businesses, as well as gaining an understanding of what was a very complex topic, he said.
About 80% of Opportune Consulting’s work was outside of Dunedin and it audited the carbon footprint of some of New Zealand’s largest organisations, including the Ministry of Education and all the schools in New Zealand. Opportune also provided broader governance and compliance advice on risk management, internal audit and organisational strategy.
Working from Dunedin — Opportune is based in an office in the Musselburgh shopping precinct — was no disadvantage as people no longer had an expectation they were dealing with someone “down the road”.
The day-to-day work was technical and hard work and it was not until he stepped back and reflected, to all those years ago when he was wanting to use his skills and degrees and experience in work that he was really interested in — “now I think I am there”, he said.
Growing up hiking around the South Island, a love of the outdoors was something that was embedded in him from a young age. That continued today with his interests in running, cycling, hiking and adventure racing, including several Coast to Coast events.
Returning to London recently for the first time in 12 years, was a real reminder about “what’s awesome about Dunedin and New Zealand” — and that was the outdoors — along with the “10 minute drive to anywhere from Dunedin”.
And a lot of people still tapped into his business advisory and assurance knowledge, which had been a solid foundation that allowed him to do what he was doing now.
Mr Douglas was recently awarded a fellowship of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ). Other southern recipients included Barbara Bridger, Adair Craik, Brendon Harrex, Craig MacAlister and Mark Taylor.
A member for 20 years, he had been heavily involved for the last eight; that included chairing the local committee and then putting his hand up to go on the organisation’s national council where he has been now for four years.
He also mentored young chartered accountants, talking to them about their career path, and he had been involved with CA ANZ’s academic programme.
He enjoyed his involvement with the organisation, particularly the sense of community and network of people. Also, being in a small firm and based in Dunedin, it gave an opportunity to be part of a national, even global, conversation.
As well as the CA ANZ national council, Mr Douglas had several other governance roles; he is on the board of Sport Otago and chairman and co-chairman on two audit and risk committees.
sally.rae@odt.co.nz
