New Governance for the IEMA

13/07/2007

IEMA members voted unanimously to approve anew governance structure at the Institute’s Annual General Meeting on 13th June 2007. The new Articles of Association provide for a new Board to develop and take forward the Institute’s strategy supported by a representative Council which will provide advice on issues relating to the Institute’s members and the profession as a whole.

New Governance for the IEMA

IEMA members voted unanimously to approve anew governance structure at the Institute’s Annual General Meeting on 13th June 2007. The new Articles of Associationprovide for a new Board to develop and take forward the Institute’s strategy supportedby a representative Council which will provide advice on issues relating to theInstitute’s members and the profession as a whole.

Background

It is over seven years since the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) was formed. Over this time period theIEMA has grown to be the largest professional body for environmentalsustainability professionals in the UK withover 11000 members and an ever-expanding range of membership services. In January 2007 alone the IEMA received over 285 new membership applicationsand over 340 people registered onto the February 2007 Open Book Assessment. Not only does this reflect the importance of environmental issues tobusiness and society as a whole it's also a demonstration of the need for wellqualified and skilled people to address the environmental threats we face.

With this growth came the realisation thatthe governing structure which had served the Institute so well and inparticular helped to move the organisation forward when it was formed in 1999was not necessarily appropriate for the Institute moving into the future.

As such over the last 12 months theInstitute's Council undertook a review of the IEMA's overall governingstructure and developed proposals to make amendments. These proposals were supported by members at the recent AGM.

New Structure

The previous structure of the IEMA had atits core a Council; each Council member was also a non-executive director ofthe IEMA. The Council was made up of elected representatives andco-optees from the membership together with two executive directors - in totalthere were 26 Council members.

The new structure comprises a Board ofDirectors and a representative Council.

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The [page:iemaboard] is responsible for:

• Determining the Institute's strategic objectives and policies taking into account advice from the representative Council
• Agreeing and monitoring the Institute's business plan and budget
• Appointing the Chief Executive and overseeing the recruitment of Executive Directors and the Company Secretary
• Being accountable for the Institute's activities to the Institute's members.

The maximum number of Board members is 12comprising Executive (up to 3) and Non-Executive Directors (up to 9). Ofthe 9 Non-Executive Director positions 6 are for IEMA members and 3 are forindependent Non-Executive Directors.

Non-Executive Directors will normally beappointed as members of the Board for one term of three years; terms will bearranged so as to stagger the process of appointments to provide continuity tothe Board. Non-Executive Directors may seek re-appointment to the Boardfor a second term although at the end of the second term they will cease to beeligible for a period of 3 years.

The Board will elect a Chair who will beresponsible chairing Board meetings and for reporting to the representativeCouncil on the Institute's overall progress.

The members of the new Board appointed by the Institute's Council are:

Name	Position	Organisation
Adrian Belton	Executive Director	Natural England
Barrie Clarke	Director of Communication	Water UK
Jiggy Lloyd	Independent consultant
Ian Housley	Head of Business Assurance Training and Development	Clancy Group
Jonathan Garrett	Group Health Safety and Environment Director	Brett Group
Paul Pritchard	Corporate Responsibility Manager	Royal and SunAlliance
Ian Russon	Manager - Systems and Resources	Corus Colours
Russell Foster	Chief Executive	IEMA
Martin Baxter	Technical Director	IEMA

Representative Council

The Council will be the representative bodyof the members of the Institute and will act as the key advisory body to theBoard on issues relating to the Institute and the environmental management andsustainable development profession as a whole.

In addition the Council which willcomprise up to 40 members will be responsible for the Institute's Memorandumand Articles of Association and for appointing the Board.

The Council will be constituted through acombination of elections (both individual and corporate members) andappointments by the Institute's Regional Steering Groups.

Regional Steering Groups

The Institute will continue to operate withRegional Steering Groups which will be responsible for appointing their ownSteering Group members. Each Regional Steering Group will also appoint arepresentative onto the Council.

If you require further details pleasecontact either Russell Foster Chief Executive [email protected] or Martin Baxter TechnicalDirector [email protected]on 01522 540069.