News story

Environment Agency Board appointment

Environment Secretary appoints Professor Lynne Frostick to the Board of the Environment Agency

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Professor Lynne Frostick has been appointed to the Board of the Environment Agency as lead member for flood and coastal risk management by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Elizabeth Truss.

Professor Frostick’s appointment takes effect from the 16th March 2015 for three years.

The re-appointment of Emma Howard Boyd as a Board member has also been confirmed. She is re-appointed until the 30th June 2019.

Board members provide non-executive leadership challenge and support to the executive through regular Board meetings, committees and groups. They also undertake individual lead roles on relevant issues and with local operational teams.

All non-Executive appointments to the Environment Agency Board are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. The appointments comply with the Code of Practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

The Environment Agency is a Non-Departmental Public Body, set up under the Environment Act 1995 to take an integrated approach to environmental protection and enhancement in England.

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.

There is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if significant) to be declared. Professor Frostick and Emma Howard Boyd have confirmed that they have not undertaken any significant political activity during the past 5 years.

Biographical details of Board Members

Professor Lynne Frostick

Professor Frostick is both a chartered geologist and geographer with an academic background in environmental science. She has been a Professor of Physical Geography at Hull University since 1996 and has published over 100 papers and books related to environmental physics, modelling and hydraulic engineering. She was the first female Honorary Secretary (1988 - 1991) and second female President of the Geological Society of London (2008 - 2010). She was a member of the North East Regional Environmental Protection Advisory Committee (1997 - 2006) and a leading member of the 2007 independent Hull Flood Review Group. She was named Woman of Outstanding Achievement in 2009 for leadership in Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Emma Howard Boyd

Emma has spent her 25-year career working in financial services, initially in corporate finance, and then in fund management, specialising in sustainable investment and corporate governance. As Director of Stewardship at Jupiter Asset Management until July 2014, Emma was integral to the development of their reputation in the corporate governance and sustainability fields. She currently serves on various boards and advisory committees including the Future Cities Catapult (Vice Chair), the Aldersgate Group, the 30% Club Steering Committee, the Executive Board of The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project and the Carbon Trust Advisory Panel. Her past board and advisory roles have included being a director of Triodos Renewables PLC; Vice Chair and Chair of UKSIF, the UK sustainable investment and finance association, and a member of the Commission on Environmental Markets and Economic Performance, set up by the UK Government to make detailed proposals specifically on enhancing the UK environmental industries, technologies and markets. From April 2015, Emma will take up the role of Chair of ShareAction – a responsible investment charity.

Published 27 February 2015