James Bevan (diplomat)

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

He joined the British Diplomatic Service in 1982 and served in Kinshasa, Brussels, Paris, and Washington, as well as various posts in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. 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.[1][2]

Bevan became Chief Executive of the Environment Agency in 2015.[3] 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[4][5] on the need to tackle the climate emergency and its consequences, and on the benefits for business and wider society of doing so successfully.

Bevan undertook a controversial decision to weaken environmental standards of rivers as part of post-Brexit proposals which would amend the EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD). Just 14% of English rivers have been assessed under the directive as good. The directive sees water quality as an area that can have the most significant impact on the environment and examines factors such as biology, physical character, depth, width, flow and pollution as part of the four tests. Bevan's proposal would see quality only reflecting one of the four criteria which campaigners believe would present a false view of water quality.[6]

Sir James is married with three daughters.

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