"Many political agreements put off the difficult actions for the next regime and that appears to be the reality for the Durban platform," said David Symons, director of environmental consultancy WSP.
WSP remained a significant voice in the peace movement throughout the 1980s and '90s, speaking out against U.S. intervention in Latin America and the Persian Gulf states.
But Canada's WSP Global agreed to pay $1.35bn £820mm) to buy it.
Reports had said construction services group Atkins and a number of private equity firms were also in the running to buy the company, but WSP edged ahead in the middle of last month.
WSP was a London Stock Exchange-listed UK engineer until two years ago when it was bought by Canadian rival Genivar.
Leading the way is Vikas WSP, an Indian company that specializes in the production of guar powders.
WS Atkins and WSP are thought to be among the interested parties.
Design Package manager WSP UK.
Emily Beadon is UK media and reputation manager for global professional services consultancy WSP Sign up to become a member of the Women in Leadership community here for more comment, analysis and best practice direct to your inbox.
It has also recruited Rio Tinto, Laing O'Rourke and WSP as industrial partners.
In my current role at WSP, a professional consultancy working in the built environment, a consultant might be giving an interview about highway engineering.
