Our Environment and Climate Change Insights team brings together expertise on environment and climate change, private sector sustainability, financial reporting and audit. The team leads the NAO’s work on sustainability reporting and assurance in the public sector.
Katy Losse
Katy leads the Environment and Climate Change Insights team. Over her 20 year career at the NAO, Katy has examined a wide range of government’s climate and environmental work, including its waste management reforms, air quality programme, and its approach to local government and net zero.
Katy directed the NAO’s work on Achieving environmental improvement and responding to climate change, which drew learning from previous NAO reports to identify key enablers of success that will need government’s continued focus and attention. She has a Master’s degree in Environmental Technology, and worked as an investment analyst before joining the NAO. She was named as one of the UK’s 100 most influential environmental professionals in the inaugural ENDS Power list 2022.
Sonia Shah
Sonia is a qualified accountant with extensive international experience in advisory and assurance, specialising in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and climate risk. She has held senior roles at global firms, including leading UK ESG Advisory at a major brokerage and directing climate initiatives at a global accountancy firm.
At the NAO, she leads the development of sustainability assurance and supports public sector bodies on climate disclosures and environmental matters. She has delivered complex, regulatory-driven programmes across jurisdictions and advises Boards on integrating ESG into governance and risk frameworks.
Sonia is a Trustee for sustainability-focused non-profits, regularly speaks at external ESG events, and was recognised by the ACCA as a “Woman Making an Impact” for her leadership in the field. Her work is valued for its strategic insight.
Rachel Robinson
Rachel has moved into the team following nine years at the NAO in the financial audit service line, most recently managing a portfolio of audits in the research and innovation and green energy space. The move into the team builds on her work in recent years collaborating with other international Audit Institutions on environmental audit and consolidates learning from her recently completed MSc in Environmental Management.
Harriet Phillips
Harriet has worked on and led a range of financial audits across health, education, and local government. Her other experience includes developing guidance and advising teams in qualitative methods, and working with suppliers on carbon emissions reporting to drive improvements in the NAO’s own climate-related reporting. Before joining the NAO, Harriet worked in a university researching and teaching English literature.
Dr Helen Roberts
Helen manages the team’s support to value for money teams across the NAO. She has experience leading and managing value for money audits in a range of government sectors, including transport, farming and the environment. Before joining the NAO in 2018, Helen completed a PhD in geography in which she explored the use of big data in understanding human-nature interactions and ecosystem services in urban environments.
Emma Wilding
Emma is a senior analyst with eight years’ experience of working on NAO’s climate change, environment and sustainable development value for money work. This has included reports on air quality, farming, the governance of net zero and environmental goal delivery, international development spending and the environmental sustainability of central government departments.
In 2023, Emma was seconded as a Committee Specialist to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee where she led inquiries on the UK’s contribution to global deforestation and sustainable forestry in the UK. Emma holds an MA in Zoology and MSc in Climate change, development and policy.
Our work
The Environment and Climate Change Insights team leads and supports work across the NAO on:
- public sector resilience to environmental and climate change risks
- enablers of success for government’s delivery of its environment and climate change goals
- sustainability reporting and assurance in the public sector
For more on our work in these areas, see the following topics:
Contact the team
You can contact the team by email: environment.insights@nao.org.uk
Other Insights teams
Find out about the NAO’s other Insights teams