In the first of our Future Leaders In Depth profiles, Seb Berry talked to James Pritchard-Evans about his reputational and political management role at the Environment Agency, the huge challenges the Agency faces dealing with the worsening effects of climate change, and the importance of demonstrating leadership on wider sustainability issues. In a fascinating and wide-ranging interview, James also reveals what he would tell the Prime Minister, emphasises the importance of civil rights movements in driving forward cultural change, and talks about his role as Co-Chair of the EA LGBT+ Network. James has worked at the Environment Agency for nine years.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background and why you wanted to join the Environment Agency?
My background is in Environmental Health, and while doing my degree and working for a local authority I used to enjoy the food inspections the most. But I graduated in 2011, at the height of austerity and a “bonfire of regulations” so there were no jobs for a new graduate. So, I started applying for similar roles elsewhere, and by luck ended up as a Permitting Officer in the Environment Agency.
In the summer of 2012, there were a set of storms which rolled in and I was asked if I wanted to work in the National Incident Room, and I found my part of the business. I had studied crisis management and public protection as part of my degree, so I took to it like a duck to water.
While it sounds like I fell into the EA and I probably did, I landed on my feet. The EA is a great place to work, indeed so many of our staff stay for decades that I’m still classed as “new” after 9 years.
Was there any single event or person that first inspired you to want to work in environmental protection?
Not really. I’ve always wanted to help people. As a child I wanted to be a Police officer or Fire officer. That dropped away but the want to help people remained. And like most people in my generation the idea of protecting the environment has always been well ingrained. Growing up it was well established in the news that the climate is changing, and humans are suffering the brunt of the effect of these changes, as well as driving those changes.
I’m really fortunate that I’m able to work in a part of the EA which allows me to look at environmental protections but also trying to protect people from the effects of climate change, extreme weather and freak events.
What has been the most challenging aspect of your reputation management role? Any particularly difficult incidents?
In my current role, I think the most challenging would be the November 2019 flooding. Having to manage a flood during an election campaign, ensuring the impartiality of the pre-election period.
The close second is Coronavirus. The most challenging part of this was on a personal level. Trying to keep focused on my duties while seeing the data, discussions and decisions being made by Senior Ministers and officials, and seeing the impacts of the virus playing out. And it’s no easier now we are entering the fourth wave of infections.
Otherwise, events such as the flooding on the Somerset levels and the flooding of winter 2015/16, both stick out as very difficult situations to deal with for a variety of reasons. They were certainly responsible for a lot of the grey hairs I have today!
What more can be done to promote the vital work of the EA among the general public?
I think a lot of the public don’t actually know much about what we do. You tend to only hear about us when something goes wrong. Or via rod licensing and planning applications. But there is so much more to our work.
I do wonder if a series like A Life of Grime – a BBC documentary series which followed the work of Environmental Health Officers – would be good for the Environment Agency. I know we did a mini version during a recent set of flooding but it was very limited to flooding. There is so much to explore and so many characters within the EA who are so passionate about what they do, I think it would make a great series, and show the public how much goes on, for their benefit without them ever realising.
Every policy lever in Government and ability to influence the culture of the public should be deployed to help tackle the issues. Otherwise the issues caused will dwarf the impacts of the current pandemic.
Which areas do you see as the most challenging, in terms of the EA’s work?
Keeping up with the demand and need. Climate Change is having a huge effect. Just keeping pace with the impacts and doing what is needed is getting to be a bigger and bigger job.
The EA has said recently that net zero by 2050 is not enough. Which policy areas do you see as the most important and pressing in moving to net zero plus?
Yes, the EA is planning to be Net zero by 2030, and then looking to become net negative after that. There are some sectors where there will always be some emissions which can’t be removed, captured or avoided, so for those businesses able to, becoming net zero quickly, but also looking at how net negative might work will be crucial for all of us.
In terms of policy areas, they are all important. Only by doing all of them as well as we can, will we be able to prevent irreparable damage being done. One area which I’m hopeful we will begin to see soon is the value of things. Making sure that things are actually sold at a price reflective of the value of work, materials and impact of its production, that they can be repaired, rather than disposed of and that we as a society begin to value things more, whether that is clothing, food or vehicles.
Would you like to see the EA have more teeth?
I think this is a two part question, so in some very specific areas more teeth or stronger sentencing would be helpful, for example when dealing with professional waste criminals. But there is also the need for the resources (people and money) to enforce those rules. As our Chair and Chief Exec have said many times, you get the environment you pay for.
If you could have 10 minutes with the Prime Minister, what would you tell him?
From a climate change future leaders’ perspective, I’d keep it simple. I believe they teach in Harvard Business school the importance of making sure the thing is the thing, and that your focus should be on the thing.
Climate change and the biodiversity crisis are the things!
Every policy lever in Government and ability to influence the culture of the public should be deployed to help tackle the issues. Otherwise the issues caused will dwarf the impacts of the current pandemic.
In your Elemental profile, you say that “we need to embrace technological revolutions to achieve a sustainable future.” What cultural revolution do you see as being the most important and why?
Every cultural revolution is important, and equally the need to push back on the counter revolution is really important, otherwise the initial revolution doesn’t stick.
From a personal perspective I think the civil rights movements are the ones I find most inspiring. Recognising that we are all citizens of the plant Earth and we all deserve the same rights, freedoms and have the same responsibilities. Now that hasn’t always been the case and still isn’t the case for a lot of people, but that message of Hope and Fairness is very inspiring and all those civil rights movements from the suffragettes to the Stonewall riots and many others, inspire people to see a different future and make it happen.
You also talk about the importance of “fairness” in your profile. Can you say more about that?
For me, fairness needs to be at the heart of the solution. I don’t think we can lay the blame at any one group of people or expect the interventions to fall to any one group of people more than others. It would be really easy to do some things which would disproportionately affect a group of people. But doing so will only breed resentment and backlash. We need to take everyone with us on the journey.
Take flying. I love flying but rarely get the chance. If we said you can have two flights a year tax free and then an escalating scale of tax for each subsequent flight, we wouldn’t be impacting the low-income family who save all year for their week in Spain. But we would be incentivising those who fly frequently to think about if flying is needed. Is there another way of getting there? Do you even need to go at all?
That is a really basic example, and there are all sorts of other factors which need to be considered as well, for example instead of a tax do you enforce the use of 100% green fuel? But it’s a good simplistic example of how we can incorporate fairness into the solutions to the climate crisis. And I think there are so many other areas where ensuring that fairness is going to be crucial to making the changes and making them stick.
In your role as Chair of the EA LGBT+ Network, you say that the EA is at the “leading edge of best practice.” What particular aspects would you want to highlight, and what areas need further improvement?
In terms of where we are at the leading edge, the organisation’s people policies, including our trans, non-binary and intersex policy are some of the best around. And crucially they fit within the organisation’s culture and way of doing things.
Another is our Network. I’m biased being the Co-Chair for the last two years, but since the Network launched, we have been working tirelessly to improve the lives of LGBT+ staff and customers. The changes we have influenced have also brought about improvements to the lives of all staff, for example by working to have a strong shared parental leave policy. I often describe the Network as a family, and the work I have done for the Network is certainly one of the highlights of my career.
There will always be things to improve and best practice keeps moving so there is a constant need to refresh and review. One of the things the EA does do, is a pay gap report but for all protected characteristics. I’m only aware of a handful of other organisations who do the same. You can find it on gov.uk if you want to read it. This allows us to understand the issues affecting each group. And put in place interventions to ensure there is no discrimination. If more employers did the same, I’m sure we would see some really significant steps towards inclusion.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time and doing what?
Hopefully, assuming I haven’t been fired for anything I’ve said in the interview! Still working at the EA. Hopefully in a senior leadership position. I’d also hopefully be a board member or trustee of an LGBT+ charity / group to help give back to the community and hopefully, me and my husband will have been able to start a family.
