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Michael Gove has reappointed Emma Howard Boyd as chair of the Environment Agency, the environmental regulator of the water and sewerage sector in England.
Her second term will run from 19 September 2019 until 18 September 2022. Howard Boyd was appointed to the board of the Environment Agency in 2009 and was made deputy chair in 2015. She became acting chair in January 2016 after former chair Philip Dilley stepped down from his post. She was appointed chair in September 2016.
In confirming her reappointment, environment secretary Gove, said: “I am grateful for Emma’s strong leadership and achievements over her first term. She has played a crucial part in the Environment Agency’s vital work safeguarding our environment.
“I look forward to her continuing to enable delivery of our 25-year environment plan which will leave the environment in a better state for future generations.”
Howard Boyd, who also sits on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) board, added: “It’s an honour to be reappointed as chair of the Environment Agency.
“This is a dynamic and challenging period for the environment as we seek to maximise the opportunities presented by the 25-year environment plan and EU exit and develop even stronger environmental protections for the future.
“Last year the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called for urgent global action to limit temperature rises. The next three years will be critical for all of us to ensure that the country is more resilient to extreme weather, minimising carbon emissions and protecting and enhancing the environment.
“I’m looking forward to working with all our partners to achieve the best we can. And I am proud to head an organisation which has such fantastic, professional and committed staff.”
The Environment Agency has “major responsibilities” in flood management, water resources and quality, climate change, land quality, chemicals, pollution prevention and control, waste, conservation and biodiversity, fisheries conservation, air quality and navigation.
In June last year, it challenged water companies to “go further” to help deliver a £5 billion investment in the natural environment by 2025.
Howard Boyd serves on a number of boards and advisory committees which include Share Action, Menhaden Capital PLC, the Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project and Green Finance Institute.
She has worked in financial services for more than 25 years, in corporate finance and fund management.
The Environment Agency board comprises a chair and nine members and the appointment has been made in accordance with the ministerial governance code on public appointments.
The non-departmental public body was set up under the Environment Act 1995 to take an integrated approach to environmental protection and enhancement in England.
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