Agency CEO Robert Phillips said the four-strong practice would help clients ensure that 'ecological, social and economic wellbeing are the heart of business decision-making'.
Anne Augustine joins Edelman as head of sustainability from her role as EMEA director of corporate responsibility at EDS. Three consultants are moving across from other parts of the agency.
Noreena Hertz, an academic and writer on economic globalisation, is a part-time adviser, as is Jules Peck, director of Conservative Party leader David Cameron's Quality of Life Policy Group.