Emma Howard Boyd has been announced as keynote speaker for the 2021 virtual World Water Congress. She has been the Chair of the Environment Agency since 2016. The Agency is a public body responsible for the protection and enhancement of the environment in England.

She’s also an ex officio board member of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), an Advisor to the Board of Trade, and a Global Ambassador for Race to Zero and Race to Resilience ahead of COP26. Emma, with a background in finance, is a board member or advisor to many organisations which include The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project, the Green Finance Institute, the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment, the Centre for Greening Finance and Investment, the Council for Sustainable Business, the European Climate Foundation, and Menhaden PLC. Emma was the UK Commissioner to the Global Commission on Adaptation from 2018 until its sunset in January 2021.

Before becoming the Chair of the Environment Agency in September 2016, she has served as a Board member since 2009, was Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee until 2016, and served as Deputy Chair. 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 (2012 -2018) and Thrive Renewables (previously 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.