UKWIR, the leading research organisation for the UK and Irish water sector, has formally welcomed Prof. Anusha Shah as its new chair.
Shah brings decades of global experience leading high-profile water and environmental engineering programmes. Widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading voices on climate change, her extensive executive and non-executive expertise spans climate resilience, flood risk management, water management, sustainability, transport and nature regeneration across government, regulators, NGOs, and the private sector.
Professor Shah holds three honorary doctorates in engineering for her services to climate change and sustainable development and honorary professorship at the Amity University, India. She has also held honorary professorship at the University of Wolverhampton and visiting professorships at King’s College London and the University of Edinburgh.
Her previous board roles include the Met Office, ICE’s Thomas Telford Board and as Chair of Thames Estuary Partnership board. She is a trustee at Green Alliance and sits on the CyanLines Partnership Board. As founder and chief executive of Plan for Earth, she provides strategic advisory globally on water management, climate resilience, sustainability, and regenerative nature-positive infrastructure, helping private, public and NGO sectors translate science and policy into creative, high-impact, implementable solutions.
Throughout her career, Shah has focused on finding interconnected solutions around carbon reduction, climate resilience, and nature-positive infrastructure. Her work spans major infrastructure and environmental initiatives, including the Thames Estuary 2100 and HS2, and international conservation projects such as the restoration of Dal Lake in Kashmir. As the 159th president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, she championed practical action to address the climate and nature emergency, advancing integrated, sustainable, climate-adaptive, nature-first and equitable solutions across the profession, sectors and geographies.
“I am excited to take on the role of chair as UKWIR occupies a unique position; bringing together the collective expertise of the water sector to tackle challenges that no organisation could solve alone. Through independent, collaborative research, UKWIR can challenge established thinking, accelerate innovation, and provide the evidence needed to turn ambitious ideas into practical solutions” explains Shah.
“There has been an extraordinary convergence of public expectation, regulatory reform, investment and technological innovation in the sector. This creates a unique opportunity, not to simply improve the existing systems, but to fundamentally rethink them.
“What excites me is the possibility of looking at these challenges differently, recognising that they are intricately connected, and that the solutions can be too. Water and nature are not just assets to protect or problems to manage, they are critical infrastructure and powerful enablers of investible growth connecting the future of our economy, environment and public health.
“This is a moment to be both bold enough to challenge the conventional thinking, but humble enough to recognise that no single organisation or sector has all the answers.”
UKWIR chief executive Mike Rose added, “We are thrilled to have Anusha on board. Her leadership and holistic perspective are precisely what UKWIR needs as we tackle the sector’s most complex, multi-faceted challenges. Her appointment as the first independent [non member] to Chair our organisation is a direct reflection of the broader transformation we are undergoing.”
He also expressed gratitude to her predecessor, Richard Warneford, who stepped down as chair in October after seven years in the role.
UKWIR has recently undergone a comprehensive restructuring of its governance model, which establishes a direct reporting line from operational teams to three newly formed strategic committees and the Board of Directors. This transition moves UKWIR to a streamlined model, harnessing the expertise of a select group of water sector representatives to guide strategy and oversee governance. The new board members now in place are:
- Michelle Atkinson – United Utilities
- Robin Price – Anglian Water
- Bob Taylor – Portsmouth Water
- Matt Wheeldon – Wessex Water
- Nisarg Hirani – Scottish Water
Alongside, Shah, UKWIR has also appointed Emma Clancy as the first of two independent non-executive directors (iNED’s). Clancy is an experienced board-level leader with a strong track record of governance, strategic leadership and organisational transformation across regulated, commercial and not-for-profit sectors. She served as the chief executive of the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) between 2020 and 2023.
