Sir James David Bevan KCMG (born 13 July 1959) is the Chief Executive of the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

and a former British

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

Early life

Bevan was born on 13 July 1959. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe and

Sussex University , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

Career

He joined the British Diplomatic Service in 1982 and served in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, as well as various posts in the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

. He was a visiting fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard (2006–07) and the Chief Operating Officer of the FCO (2007–11). He was the UK's High Commissioner to India from 2011-15. Bevan became Chief Executive of the

in 2015. The Environment Agency's stated aims include confronting climate change, promoting sustainable growth, enhancing the nation's resilience to flooding and drought, and protecting the environment. He has been outspoken on the need to tackle the climate emergency and its consequences, and on the benefits for business and wider society of doing so successfully. In a speech in 2020, Bevan called for reforms to inherited EU law, including reform of the

Water Framework Directive The Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC is an EU directive which commits European Union member states to achieve good qualitative and quantitative status of all water bodies (including marine waters up to one nautical mile from shore) by 2015. ...

, arguing that its standards were overly strict did not reflect the actual quality of waterways. Environmental advocates were angered by the proposed reforms, arguing they represented an unacceptable relaxing standards needed to ensure clean waterways in the country. He said in 2021 during the annual conference of the Association of British Insurers that extreme flooding in UK indicates urgent need for change if humanity is to survive.

Personal life

Sir James is married with three daughters.

Honours

Bevan was appointed CMG in 2006 and knighted KCMG in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bevan, James David 1959 births Living people Alumni of the University of Sussex People educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to India Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George