Joint Nature Conservation Committee Interim Chair appointment
Charles Banner KC has been appointed as the interim Chair of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
Charles Banner KC has been appointed as the interim Chair of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
Charles is a long-standing member of the Committee and was previously the Deputy Chair. His appointment will last for six months, from 21 June 2023 until 31 December 2023, whilst Defra completes an open competition for a new Chair. The role will be advertised in the coming months.
This follows the announcement of Professor Colin Galbraith’s appointment as the new Chair of NatureScot in May, and his subsequent standing down as Chair of JNCC.
JNCC is the only statutory nature advisor to the UK Government, working with the four countries of the UK, and our Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. They provide robust scientific evidence and advice to help decision makers turn science into action for nature recovery. JNCC works across land and sea with partners throughout the UK, the UK Overseas Territories, the Crown Dependencies and around the world.
The interim appointment of Charles Banner KC was made by the Environment Secretary as an exceptional appointment without competition, following consultation with the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, there is a requirement for significant political activity to be declared by the appointee. Charles has not declared any political activity in the past five years.
The JNCC Chair post attracts a renumeration of £24,000 per annum for a commitment of one-and-a-half days per week.
Biography
- Charles Banner KC has been an Independent Member of the JNCC since 2017. He was Deputy Chair since 2021, as well as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee.
- Charles is a barrister at Keating Chambers. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2004 and to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2010. He practices across both jurisdictions and internationally, specialising in environment & planning law, commercial dispute resolution and public & regulatory law. He is regularly recognised by the legal press as one of the leading barristers in his fields of practice, and he has been the recipient of multiple legal industry awards.
- Charles sits judicially on a part-time basis as a Justice of the Astana International Finance Centre Court in Kazakhstan and is an independent member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ Global Standards and Regulation Board.
- He was previously a Trustee and Council Member of the UK Environmental Law Association (2016–2020) and the Independent UK Member of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s Management Board (2017–2020).