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.
I am particularly interested to hear that you have such influence in Bolivia.
I am the founder and director of The Cochabamba Project Limited, a UK registered not for profit co-operative society formed for the purpose of providing funding to a programme of land management, conservation, reforestation and poverty reduction in the Bolivian Tropics – initially in the department of Cochabamba but now across 4 tropical departments.
The project, known locally as ArBoliva was threatened with collapse following the Bolivian government’s withdrawal of support for the Clean Development Mechanism, which effectively rendered our certified emissions reductions invalid.
Our society has made a superhuman effort to keep the project afloat and has now paid for the credits to be re-certified for sale in the voluntary rather than compulsory market (where host country approval is not required). However the voluntary carbon market is currently severely depressed and we are once again faced with an uphill battle to keep the project afloat.
We have achieved so much in the past 5 years and we are so close to receiving our first timber revenues in 2013.
I would like to request an urgent meeting with you to discuss what help is available to ensure that we can safeguard the future of this project, which is benefiting 1,000 Bolivian farmers, arresting deforestation and making a positive contribution in the battle against climate change