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.

In a speech in 2020, Bevan called for reforms to inherited EU law, including reform of the Water Framework Directive, arguing that its standards were overly strict and did not reflect the actual quality of waterways.^[6] Environmental advocates were angered by the proposed reforms, arguing they represented an unacceptable relaxing of standards needed to ensure clean waterways in the country.^[7]

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.^[8][9]He was succeeded by Phillip Duffy in 2023.

Sir James is married with three daughters.

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