Public appointment: Members reappointed to the Environmental Standards Scotland Board

The Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, Gillian Martin MSP, today announced the reappointment of Marie Fallon, Dr Paul McAleavey and Professor Annalisa Savaresi as Members of the Environmental Standards Scotland Board.

Members

Marie Fallon has over 40 years experience of public service, gained in various local authorities across England dealing mainly with economic development and environmental matters. She has worked for the Environment Agency for seven years which enables her to bring regulatory skills to the Board, having been responsible for Environmental Regulation across England. She also had responsibilities for people management and finance having led several hundred people and manged multi-million pound budgets. Over the last four years she has served as a Board member of Northumberland National Park Authority.

Dr Paul McAleavey is a senior civil servant in the European Commission with extensive experience in European environment and climate policy. He worked previously for 15 years at the European Environment Agency, where he directed strategy and managed teams of analysts responsible for knowledge and evidence of European policy-makers. Benchmarking against international standards has long been a key element of his work. In his current job, he works in a strategic leadership role in Brussels preparing a large scale review and modernisation of the European Commission.

Professor Annalisa Savaresi is Professor of Environmental Law at the Center for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law, University of Eastern Finland. She also holds a part-time Chair in Environmental Law at the University of Stirling. She is an expert in environmental law, with 20 years’ experience working with international and national governmental and non-governmental organisations. She has written extensively on the relationship between human rights and climate change law. Her work has been cited widely, including by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Professor Savaresi is currently Director for Europe of the Global Network on Human Rights and the Environment, associate editor of the Yearbook of  International Environmental Law, and member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law. She has given evidence to the UK, EU and Scottish Parliaments.

Reappointments

Marie Fallon and Dr Paul McAleavey will be reappointed for four years from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2029 with Dr Annalisa Savaresi reappointed for three years from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2028.

The reappointments are regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.

Remuneration and time commitment

The reappointments attract remuneration of £212.92 per day for a time commitment of approximately two days per month.

Other Ministerial appointments

Ms Fallon, Dr McAleavey and Professor Savaresi do not hold any other public appointments in Scotland.

Political activity

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process.  However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public.

Ms Fallon, Dr McAleavey and Professor Savaresi have had no political activity within the last five years.

Background

Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) mission is to ensure that Scotland’s environmental laws and standards are complied with, and their effectiveness improved, to achieve Scotland’s ambitions for the environment and climate change.  ESS’ functions are set out in the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021 and include monitoring and investigating public authorities’ compliance with environmental law, the effectiveness of the law and how it is implemented and applied in Scotland.