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Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Part of UK in Bolivia

16th October 2010

Blog Action Day 2010: Climate Change and Water Supply

It is often said that we are more likely, in the future, to fight wars over water than over oil. Global warning, and changes to our climate, mean that this future possibility becomes more real every day.

In Bolivia, every year, the glaciers that supply water – for drinking and hydro-electric power – to cities like La Paz and El Alto are smaller. The Chacaltaya glacier, on which Bolivians used to ski has, famously, virtually disappeared. Bolivia’s principal disputes with its neighbours involve water and who controls it – the Rio Lauca with Peru, the Rio Silala with Chile, the existence of aquifiers under the parched landscape of the Chaco on the Paraguayan border. Even with Brazil, water is a major issue. The hydro-electric projects on the Rio Madeira threaten, according to environmentalists, to lead to substantial flooding in the Beni region of Bolivia if realised.

Diplomats and politicians should take note. Our aim is to prevent conflict. Water is an increasing source of that conflict. We should therefore be much more aware of the issues involved. It would be a tragedy if the source of life – unlike oil, we cannot live without water – became the principal source of conflict between nations. Who knows when our embassies might start to see the appointment of water attaches?

About Nigel Baker

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as…

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as Deputy Head of Mission in the British Embassy in Havana, Cuba (2003-6) and then as British Ambassador in La Paz, Bolivia (2007-11). In July 2016, Nigel finished his posting, and is currently back in London.

As the first British Ambassador to the Holy See ever to have a blog, Nigel provided a regular window on what the Embassy and the Ambassador does. The blogs covered a wide range of issues, from Royal and Ministerial visits to Diplomacy and Faith, freedom of religion, human trafficking and climate change.

More on Nigel’s career

Nigel was based in London between 1998 and 2003. He spent two years on European Union issues (for the UK 1998 EU Presidency and on European Security and Defence questions), before crossing St James’s Park to work for three years as The Assistant Private Secretary to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. At St James’s Palace, Nigel worked on international issues, including the management of The Prince of Wales’s overseas visits and tours, on the Commonwealth, interfaith issues, the arts and international development.

Nigel spent much of the early part of his FCO career in Central Europe, after an initial stint as Desk Officer for the Maghreb countries in the Near East and North Africa department (1990-91). Between 1992 and 1996, Nigel served in the British embassies in Prague and Bratislava, the latter being created in 1993 after the peaceful division of Czechoslovakia into the separate Czech and Slovak Republics.

Nigel joined the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) in September 1989. Between 1996 and 1998 he took a two year academic sabbatical to research and write about themes in 18th century European history, being based in Verona but also researching in Cambridge, Paris and Naples. The research followed from Nigel’s time as a student at Cambridge (1985-88) where he read history and was awarded a First Class Honours degree, followed by his MA in 1992.

Before joining the Foreign Office, Nigel worked briefly for the Conservative Research Department in London at the time of the 1989 European election campaign.

Nigel married Alexandra (Sasha) in 1997. They have one son, Benjamin, born in Bolivia in September 2008.

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