FCDO Editorial

21st November 2016 London, UK

Barry Grossman

Director of Trade & Investment at British Embassy Israel

Rolls-Royce for EL AL: How we landed the biggest UK-Israel trade deal in history

I’ve always been fascinated by jet aircraft, especially those used by commercial airlines. As a kid, it was a real holiday for me when my father would take me for a drive on a Sunday to see the aircraft taking off and landing at London Airport – now Heathrow. More recently my interest has been […]

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17th November 2016 London, UK

Christina Vallianos

Program and Grants Manager, WildAid

Saving Pangolins

Around 100,000 pangolins are killed every year to satisfy demand in Asia for their meat and scales, making them the world’s most heavily trafficked wild mammal. Their meat is viewed as a delicacy and their keratin scales are falsely believed to possess medicinal properties. These unique animals – which resemble scaly anteaters – are taken […]

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14th November 2016 London, UK

Will Travers

President and CEO The Born Free Foundation

I believe that we can still win for the animals

This week, delegates from 54 countries, governments, wildlife professionals, conservationists, wildlife trade experts, charities such as Born Free and our friends in the press and media, will gather in Hanoi, Vietnam, to drive forward efforts to end the illegal wildlife trade, especially the trade in ivory and rhino horn. Vietnam, our hosts, is regarded as […]

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14th November 2016 London, UK

Dan Bucknell

Executive Director at Tusk

Tackling Illegal Wildlife Trade

The illegal wildlife trade (IWT) has become the fourth most lucrative transnational crime after drugs, arms and human trafficking. Worth as much as $20billion per year, IWT threatens international security, national sovereignties, impoverished rural communities, and countless animals from elephants and rhinos, to lions and pangolins. To tackle IWT, Tusk is currently running two key […]

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11th November 2016 London, UK

Richard Barley

Director of Horticulture, Learning and Operations, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Kew observes Remembrance Day 2016

The wreath to be laid at the Cenotaph on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Remembrance Sunday is to be created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. As is the custom, Kew Gardens is providing a wreath to be laid on behalf of the Foreign Office at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday. A […]

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3rd November 2016 London, UK

Liz Hitchcock

Digital Training and Upskilling Manager

Digital training and capability at FCO: pilots have landed

The new half-day Agile workshops for leadership at our embassies and high commissions (Posts) bring together the head of mission and deputy head of mission, and the main people from the press and public affairs teams, policy teams and consular communications team. The purpose is to decide how well a Post’s digital channels are supporting […]

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24th October 2016 London, UK

Phil Baty

Editor, Times Higher Education World University Ranking

UK universities are among the leading flag-bearers for Global Britain

It was obvious who was going to grab all the headlines. When Times Higher Education named the University of Oxford as the world’s number one university in September it was the first time the UK – indeed any institution outside the US – had taken the top spot in the World University Rankings since they […]

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17th October 2016 London, UK

Sharon Campbell

HM Ambassador Port Au Prince

Hurricane Matthew: UK rapid response in Haiti

What happens when one of the smallest UK missions globally is preparing for a long delayed election and gets hit beforehand by a Force 4 hurricane?  We found out last week.  Preparing for elections which we hoped would deliver a stable government, we were pushed into full crisis mode with the approach of the strongest […]

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10th October 2016 London, UK

Captain James Parkin

Captain of HMS BULWARK

Leading the Joint Expeditionary Force – the UK’s Swiss army knife of land, sea and air

Introduction Britain is a leading member of NATO and has strong and enduring defence relationships with partners around the world. In this blog Captain James Parkin RN writes about the capabilities of the UK Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) and its role in developing defence and security cooperation: Captain James Parkin I command HMS BULWARK, 176 […]

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7th October 2016 London, UK

Sir David King

Special Representative for Climate Change

Taking action on Climate Change

Climate change is the greatest threat facing our generation. We urgently need to take collective action to halt the increase in global temperature and limit the risks posed to our economy and national and global security. I am proud that the UK has led the global transition to a low carbon economy. We were the […]

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