Emma Howard Boyd

Chair / Environment Agency

Emma Howard Boyd has been the chair of the UK’s Environment Agency since 2016. The Agency is a public body responsible for the protection and enhancement of the environment in England.

She’s also the UK Commissioner to the Global Commission on Adaptation, an Ex officio board member of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and an Advisor to the Board of Trade. Emma, with a background in finance, is a board member or advisor to many companies which include The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project, the European Climate Foundation, and Menhaden PLC.

Before becoming the Chair of the Agency in September 2016, she served as its Board member since 2009. Her other past roles include being the Chair of Trustees at ShareAction from 2015 to 2018, Vice-Chair of the Future Cities Capital from 2013 and 2018, and acting as a Non-Executive Director at the Aldersgate Group between (2012 -2018) Triodos Renewables (2004-2012). Before that, she held various executive roles at Jupiter Asset Management. She was also Chair of UKSIF (the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association), a member of the Commission on Environmental Markets and Economic Performance, and the Green Finance Taskforce.

Emma Howard Boyd attended Lester B Pearson College, United World College (UWC) in Canada. She read Law and Economics at St John’s College at the University of Durham.