CIWEM has a strong technical structure that ensures that the
Institution is able to deliver high quality, timely output on a
wide range of environmental issues. Typical outputs include
responses to public consultations and parliamentary committee
inquiries, CIWEM Policy Position Statements and more detailed
reports. These can be found on the various topic pages throughout
the policy section of the website. The secretariat at the
London office has six staff in its Policy Department who will
be happy to help with a range of issues.
Meet the Policy Team
Justin Taberham, Director of Policy
Justin Taberham directs policy, technical and commercial issues
within CIWEM including lobbying, policy outputs, conferences,
publications, journals and magazine, media, marketing and
communications, awards, networks and panels. His background is in
environmental policy and strategy, having worked at National Rivers
Authority, Inland Waterways Association and Environment Agency
before moving to CIWEM in 1999.
He is a Chartered Environmentalist, is CIWEM's Director on SILC
(Specialist in Land Condition) and represents CIWEM on CEEQUAL,
Defra Water Stakeholder Group, EA Regulatory Business Forum and
LANDFORM. He is a Member of the Project Board for Defra's Flood
Risk Management Capacity Building for Local Authorities work.
Contact: justin@ciwem.org
Alastair Chisholm, Policy Manager
Alastair Chisholm manages the work of CIWEM's technical
panels and networks and the other policy outputs produced by the
policy team as a whole, as well as providing more direct support to
the Sustainability and Environmental Management Panel, Wastewater
Management Panel and Climate Change Network. He is
responsible for the operation of CIWEM's ISO 14001 accredited
environmental management system, helping to reduce the
Institution's own environmental impacts. Recently he has acted as
project link between CIWEM's Trustee Board and Secretariat and the
Design Team responsible for designing CIWEM's new office premises
in Farringdon.
Alastair graduated with an BSc in Environmental Management and
MSc in Coastal and Marine Resources Management, and arrived at
CIWEM via the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the
Inland Waterways Association. He is working towards becoming a
CIWEM member and a Chartered Environmentalist.
Contact: Alastair@ciwem.org
Joanna Rowe, Policy Officer
Joanna Rowe leads CIWEM's parliamentary activities including
events, meetings, and the flagship 'buddying scheme'. This
includes maintaining close links with all party groups, organising
co-hosted meetings, representing CIWEM at key parliamentary events,
and monitoring government policy. Jo strives to raise
awareness of CIWEM within parliament highlighting the importance of
the sector and the fantastic work CIWEM members are involved
in. She also provides support to CIWEM technical panels
producing lobbying and policy material, managing the Natural
Capital Network, running the CIWEM Professional Directory, and is a
regular contributor to WEM magazine. Jo led on the production of
the CIWEM Manifesto in 2009 and continues to drive forward the
policies called for.
Jo is a graduate member of CIWEM, has a BA in Politics and
Social Policy and has just finished an MSc in Environment,
Politics, and Globalisation. Jo has held a number of roles at
CIWEM managing 2 journals, running CIWEM awards, and assisting in
the production of CIWEM conferences. Her interests lie in
deforestation, climate change, consumption, political ecology and
engagement. Jo's research looks into the role that faith
groups can play in influencing environmental policy within the
UK.
Contact: jrowe@ciwem.org
Laura Grant, Policy Officer
Laura Grant leads on briefing reports and
consultations, aiming to advance the science and practice of
water and environmental management by promoting the views
of CIWEM's membership. She produced our recent water
workstreams in the lead up to the Water White Paper to
influence the Government's reform of the water industry
to reflect sustainability. Laura also provides support to
CIWEM's technical panels, producing policy and lobbying
material, manages the Faith and the Arts Networks and supports the
delivery of the Environmental Management System.
Aside from water, her interests lie in climate change, planning,
green infrastructure, social justice, and the more
controversial topics of balancing population and consumption and
energy demands with preserving wilderness.
Laura graduated from the University of Leeds with a BSc in
Geography and an MSc in Sustainability and Environmental
Consultancy. Prior to working at CIWEM she worked within a local
authority modelling climate change and vulnerability. A long term
lover of maps and meteorology and a new convert to twitter.
Contact: lgrant@ciwem.org
Twitter: @lgrantciwem
Lauren Goozee, Events Officer
Lauren Goozee assists in the development, organisation and
promotion of CIWEM national and international conferences and
events. She oversees and keeps website content for conferences,
events and seminars up to date and is responsible for the
co-ordination and financial administration of conference
sponsorship.
Lauren joined CIWEM in 2007 after graduating from Leeds
University with a BA Joints Honours in Spanish and Geography. A
human geographer at heart her interests include population,
consumption, behavioural change, resource use and sustainable
development. She is a graduate member of CIWEM and is currently
working towards full membership.
Contact: lauren@ciwem.org
Twitter: @laurenhgoozee
Scott Edwards, Policy and Journal Administrator
Scott Edwards holds a B.Sc (Hons) in Geography from the
University of Bristol and a MA (with distinction) in International
Relations from the University of Warwick, where he was awarded the
2012 Current Student Scholarship. He is the founder
and Editor-in-Chief of the postgraduate political website Pinpointpolitics.co.uk.
Scott works in the Policy Team, managing the Editorial Office for
CIWEM's journals and publications.
Contact: Scott@ciwem.org
Sarah Asberry, Press Officer
Sarah Asberry is responsible for raising the profile and
public awareness of the Institution. Busy liaising with the media,
writing, tweeting, or speaking with CIWEM experts at any given
time, she works to ensure CIWEM is seen and heard in all the right
places at the right time.
Sarah holds a MSc in Conservation from University College
London, and a BSc in Biology from Iowa State University. From
the Midwest, Sarah arrived at CIWEM in 2012 via the Iowa Department
of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, where she ran a
statewide sustainable
agriculture programme and led communications for the Division
of Soil Conservation.
An agricultural enthusiast and champion of catchment management,
Sarah gardens atop her narrowboat and on her community's
floating allotment as she plots her own foray in to farming.
Contact: sarah@ciwem.org
Policy Forward Plan 2013-2014
CIWEM's Policy Team will be working on a range of planned
outputs over the course of 2013-14. Our forward plan
outlines the topics and nature of these outputs.
CIWEM Manifesto
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CIWEM's 2009 publication Fitting the Bill: A Manifesto for
Environmental Action sets out the
Institution's policies for the next five years to help
mitigate and adapt to climate change and other serious
environmental threats.
The Manifesto includes calls for the creation of a low
carbon society, a national programme to retrofit appropriate water
and energy saving technologies into the existing housing
stock, an end to new airport capacity and
environmentally damaging subsidies for the aviation industry
and the introduction of a mechanism to halt deforestation
globally.
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The Manifesto aims to assist and inform legislators and decision
makers over the coming parliamentary term identifying five areas
requiring urgent action. CIWEM has drawn upon its expertise and
experience and recommends pragmatic, achievable responses. For
further information, please contact Joanna
Rowe.
Westminster Sustainable Business Forum Water Essays:
'Sustainable Solutions - Raising the Water Mark'
Justin Taberham wrote an essay for this publication which
gathers ten essays from key people in the sector, including Janez
Potocnik, EC Commissioner for the Environment, Mike Clarke of RSPB,
Lord Krebs and David Nussbaum. There was a parliamentary launch for
the essays, hosted by Gavin Shuker and there were talks by Lord
Chris Smith and Mary Creagh. The report can be viewed
here.
Aldersgate Group
CIWEM is a leading member of the influential business and
environment body Aldersgate Group. The Aldersgate Group
is a high level coalition of progressive businesses, environmental
groups and individuals who believe that high environmental
standards will be a major part of future economic growth and
international competitiveness.
The Aldersgate Group is supporting an initiative from WWF and
the Co-operative to demonstrate support for mandatory
carbon reporting, just before a crucial decision is taken
by the government before the 1st December 2010. The initiative is
an open
letter to government calling for mandatory carbon
reporting for large companies. The letter argues that
this would reward the companies already taking a lead in the green
economy and help all businesses to manage and reduce their GHG
emissions
Businesses and Biodiversity
CIWEM has recently been working with Aldersgate Group on
Business and Biodiversity issues suggesting a range of
commitments which companies could be aware of and sign up to, such
as:
1. Effectively auditing the complete biodiversity value of their
operating sites - so they know what they have directly on their own
land/water
2. Maximising biodiversity on their sites - e.g. even buildings
in cities can be improved by providing nesting boxes for swifts,
sparrows, etc
3. Assessing the direct and indirect impacts on biodiversity of
their activities including their supply chain - both at home and
abroad
4. Finding ways to reduce or eliminate those impacts - including
the impacts of their suppliers, again both at home and abroad - we
have to encourage a global perspective on this
5. Raising awareness of biodiversity among their staff
(alongside other environmental resources - they should already be
making wise use of water, energy, etc)
6. Supporting work with local communities which seek to reduce
impacts on and/or improve local biodiversity (e.g. Anglian Water
invests in RiverCare projects which get locals involved in
improving rivers, e.g. by clearing invasive species)
7. Ensuring that any protected sites on their land (SSSIs etc)
are in favourable condition and stay that way.
8. Reporting on impacts and actions taken to reduce impacts and
enhance biodiversity in annual sustainability reports.
9. Checking on the environmental credentials of their investors
- are they funding unacceptable impacts on biodiversity? If so,
looking for funds elsewhere.
10. Ensuring that they have an internal focus for expertise on
biodiversity - e.g. a dedicated staff member or unit - supported by
adequate resources to deliver all the above.
11. Ensuring that procurement policies avoid/minimise adverse
impacts on biodiversity (e.g. tropical timber)
12. Supporting investment in investigations to protect and
screen rare species - not least for their potential utility value
as sources of new chemicals, medicines, etc - as relevant to the
sector (helping to underline to firms the potential economic value
to business of biodiversity conservation)
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
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During 2010 and 2011 Justin Taberham, Director of Policy at
CIWEM, was a Steering Group member for a RICS work stream 'Valuation of Water'.
A universal method for attributing value to water as a separate
resource has never existed. However, population growth and
burgeoning levels of food production mean that the world's water
resources are becoming increasingly valuable. By ascribing a
financial value to water, the commercial sector would be encouraged
to manage and develop the resource in a more positive way. This
paper is the first of its kind to suggest placing a value on the
world's most precious resource, water.
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National Audit Office
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During 2009 and 2010 Justin Taberham, CIWEM's Director of
Policy, was an expert panellist for the National Audit Office Value for Money Study 'Assessing the
effectiveness of the Environment Agency's work to tackle diffuse
pollution'. The panel also consisted of:
- Penny Johnes, Professor of Freshwater Science at the University
of Reading
- Professor Alan Jenkins, Science Director (Water) at the Centre
for Ecology and Hydrology
- Bob Ferrier, head of the Catchment Management Group at the
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute
- Rob Cunningham, head of water policy at the RSPB and Chair of
the water working group at Wildlife and Countryside Link
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