What SQ Consult does

SQ Consult is an independent consultancy founded in 2009 and headquartered in Bunnik, Netherlands, that delivers advisory and consulting services in climate, energy, and sustainability to public and private clients globally. The firm operates as a professional services business — not a software product company — combining policy, legal, technical, economic, and financial expertise through a network of senior international independent experts, most with at least 20 years of domain experience. Core service lines include policy design and evaluation, regulatory and strategic advice, techno-economic analysis, capacity building and training, project management, climate finance advisory, carbon market design and evaluation, sustainability certification support, and MRV (monitoring, reporting, verification) systems development.

The firm serves two primary customer segments on a roughly equal basis: (1) the public sector, including national governments, EU institutions (DG Climate Action, DG Trade, DG Environment, European Parliament), international organisations such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, and regulatory agencies like the German UBA; and (2) the private sector, including multinational corporations, energy and industrial firms, financial institutions, and NGOs. Services are delivered through direct, project-based consulting engagements with agreed rates documented per individual agreement; no public pricing tiers, subscription model, or productised offering exists. SQ Consult maintains an operational footprint across 11+ countries spanning Europe, Latin America, North America, and Asia-Pacific, and is governed by three managing directors under the Sustainable Quality Holding group, which is fully owned by its partners. Distribution is exclusively direct-to-client with no intermediaries, and demand generation relies on thought leadership (biannual newsletter, public reports, conference participation) and Horizon 2020 consortium participation rather than paid marketing.

Name

SQ Consult

Legal name

SQ Consult B.V.

Website

https://sqconsult.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SQ Consult is an independent consultancy founded in 2009 in Bunnik, Netherlands, providing senior expert advisory in climate, energy, and sustainability to public sector clients (EU institutions, World Bank, ADB, national governments) and private multinationals via project-based engagements across 11+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Climate, Energy and Sustainability Consultancy

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Environmental Consulting Services (541620)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Renewable Policy & Regulatory Strategy (National/State/Local) (EUAMANAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) & Clean Energy Standards Compliance (EUAMANAF), Permitting, Siting & Environmental Impact (EIA/NEPA) Advisory (EUAMANAB), Corporate & Voluntary Procurement Policy (PPAs, Green Tariffs, 24/7 CFE) (EUAMANAH), Incentives, Subsidies & Tax Policy (ITC/PTC, FiTs, Auctions/CfDs) (EUAMANAE)

Keywords

• Climate policy consulting
• Energy consultancy services
• Sustainability advisory
• Carbon market advisory
• Emissions trading support

Headquarters

HQ city

Bunnik

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices16 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Consultancy and Advisory Services: SQ Consult provides consultancy and advisory services to public and private clients globally. Services include policy design, implementation and evaluation, regulatory and strategic advice, techno-economic analysis, capacity building and training, and project management. Fees are based on agreed rates per assignment, with billing according to terms specified in individual agreements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SQ Consult is a dedicated boutique consultancy firm founded in 2009, providing senior-level independent advisory services in climate, energy, and sustainability. The firm combines policy, legal, technical, economic, and financial expertise through a network of senior international independent experts (most with at least 20 years of experience), delivering services globally to public and private clients on a project-based assignment model.

Product overview

SQ Consult is a consultancy firm founded in 2009, providing advisory and consulting services in climate, energy, and sustainability. It is not a software product company but rather a professional services firm that offers strategic advice, policy analysis, market design, climate finance advisory, carbon market expertise, and implementation support to public and private clients globally. The firm combines policy, legal, technical, economic, and financial expertise through its network of senior international independent experts. Services are delivered through project-based consulting engagements rather than a packaged software or product platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Climate, Energy and Sustainability Consultancy Services Project-based, senior-led independent advisory services combining policy, legal, technical, economic and financial expertise to support public and private clients globally on climate, energy and sustainability challenges. Scope spans policy design and evaluation, regulatory and strategic advice, techno-economic analysis, capacity building and training, project management, climate finance advisory, carbon market design and evaluation, sustainability certification support, and MRV system development.

Quantifiable outcome

• Supported Maldives in setting a 70% liquid fossil fuel dependency reduction target for its energy sector

Named customers13 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• CHAMPION Consortium (14 partners across 6 European countries)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2020CHAMPION (Circular High-performance Aza-Michael Polymers as Innovative materials Originating from Nature) is a Horizon 2020 BBI-JU funded Research and Innovation Action aiming to replace conventional polymers with novel bio-based polymers. The 3.5-year project (starting June 2020, Grant Agreement No. 887398) involves 14 partners coordinated by the University of York. Partners include: University of York (UK), Wageningen Food & Biobased Research (Netherlands), BioDetection Systems BV (Netherlands), Teknologian Tutkimuskeskus VTT Oy (Finland), Process Design Center BV (Netherlands), OWS NV (Belgium), Circa Sustainable Chemicals Ltd (UK), Unilever UK Central Resources Ltd (UK), nova-Institut GmbH (Germany), Ava Biochem BSL AG (Switzerland), Stahl International BV (Netherlands), Orineo BV (Belgium), SQ Consult BV (Netherlands), Scott Bader Co Ltd (UK). SQ Consult contributes expertise in sustainability assessment and decarbonisation policies.
• STAR-ProBio ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2019STAR-ProBio (Sustainability certifcation, labels and LIFE tools for Bio-based products) is a Horizon 2020 project (Grant Agreement No. 727740) supporting the European Commission in implementing European policy initiatives including the Lead Market Initiative in bio-based products, industrial policy and the European Bioeconomy Strategy. The project develops a blueprint for sustainability schemes and tools applicable to bio-products and makes recommendations for a harmonised policy regulation framework.
• World BankmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSQ Consult has worked with the World Bank on multiple engagements including: Vietnam GHG MRV framework development (with NIRAS-RCEE and NIRAS), Partnership for Market Readiness support in China, and co-hosting a webinar on Designing Accreditation and Verification Systems for carbon pricing instruments.
• European CommissionmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSQ Consult has extensive ongoing engagements with the European Commission (DG Climate Action, DG Environment, DG Trade) including EU ETS MRVA support across multiple phases, support for UNFCCC Technology Mechanism, GSP regulation review, and multiple climate and energy policy projects.
• Asian Development BankmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSQ Consult prepared the Roadmap for the energy sector 2020-2030 for the Government of Maldives in partnership with ADB. This roadmap guides Maldives' energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. The work also informed ADB's 5-year country partnership strategy for Maldives covering 2020-2024.
• Energy Community SecretariatminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSQ Consult developed a paper on using carbon pricing to support coal transition in the Western Balkans, produced for the Energy Community Secretariat and Energy Climate Foundation.
• RIPAP ConsortiumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRIPAP (Regional Implementation of Paris Agreement Project) is an EC-funded project supporting beneficiary countries in the Western Balkans and Turkey with Paris Agreement implementation. Implemented by consortium of Human Dynamics (lead), REC, Klimapolitika, Aether and SQ Consult.
• IPSOS MoricoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSQ Consult and IPSOS Mori have partnered on multiple major evaluation projects including: 2nd NAMA Facility Interim Evaluation (2021), Pilot Auction Facility formative evaluation (2019), and Global Climate Partnership Foundation Mid Term Evaluation (2019, awarded for innovation).

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• COWI: Large international engineering and environmental consultancy with a climate adaptation and renewable energy policy practice. Comparable on environmental impact assessment and renewable energy advisory to governments and EU institutions, but diversified across infrastructure engineering.
• Guidehouse (Energy, Sustainability & Infrastructure): Global advisory that absorbed Ecofys in 2022, building a large EU climate and energy policy practice. Direct overlap with SQ Consult on EU ETS, energy market design and member-state capacity building, but at substantially larger scale and across broader topics including energy infrastructure finance.
• PwC Sustainability and Climate Change: Big-4 global climate and sustainability advisory practice serving corporates and governments. Machtelt Oudenes of SQ Consult previously worked at PwC. Overlaps with SQ Consult on corporate sustainability strategy, CBAM/CSRD-related advisory, and climate governance.
• Carbon Trust: Mission-driven climate advisory organization working with governments and multinationals on carbon pricing, climate strategy and Net Zero advisory. Broader scale than SQ Consult but overlaps significantly on carbon markets, climate policy and private-sector transition advisory.

Direct peers

• Ecofys (now part of Guidehouse): Specialist European climate and energy policy consultancy (founded 1984, Netherlands) merged into Guidehouse in 2022. Multiple SQ Consult senior consultants (Mirjam Harmelink, Ann Gardiner, Asier Larretxea, Eliška Bystricky) previously worked at Ecofys, evidencing near-identical domain focus on EU energy policy, climate strategy and carbon market design.
• Ricardo Energy & Environment: UK-based energy and environmental consultancy delivering policy, carbon market and sustainability advisory to EU institutions, UK government and development banks. Directly comparable senior-expert-led delivery model on climate and energy policy assignments.
• Trinomics: Rotterdam-based consultancy specializing in environmental economics and policy for the European Commission and EU member states. Overlaps directly with SQ Consult on EU ETS, climate policy evaluation, energy market design and circular economy assignments.
• Vivid Economics: Climate, energy and environmental economics consultancy with strong EU/multilateral client base. Comparable to SQ Consult on carbon-pricing economics, energy transition analysis and climate finance advisory for governments and multilaterals.
• South Pole Group: Zurich-based climate solutions provider active in Article 6 implementation, voluntary carbon markets and corporate climate strategy. Closely comparable in expertise areas (Paris Agreement, carbon market design) while operating on a larger private-sector-led commercial model.

Others

• International Energy Charter: Intergovernmental energy-policy organization where SQ Consult's Anna Pitaraki previously worked on energy investment risk assessment. Listed as a peer because it sits at the same intersection of international climate/energy governance and advisory support, rather than as a direct commercial competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sq-consult-bv
• Xx.com/sqconsult

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SQ Consult