5th November 2026
United Nations General Assembly: championing women and girls’ rights
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
1st October 2026
A Year Too Big for Two Suitcases: Notes From a Chevening Scholar
11th May 2026
The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill: turning a global ocean agreement into UK law
3rd November 2021 Science Innovation USA
Daybreak in San Francisco
Around the world, young people are driving ambition on climate action. In the lead-up to the UN’s climate conference COP26, the British and Italian Consulates in San Francisco held an event that aimed to engage and inspire a new generation of climate leaders, by reflecting on the dangerous effects of climate change, but also on […]
2nd November 2021 Stockholm, Sweden
The launch of the International Climate Council Network
World-leaders, policy-makers and negotiators from across the globe have converged on Glasgow for the United Nation’s 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26). Among the key objectives of COP26 will be to a) raise ambitions on climate action through countries’ nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to reach net-zero by 2050 (including ambitious 2030 targets), and b) mobilize […]
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1st November 2021 Stockholm, Sweden
The Global Innovation Needs Assessments
Accelerating innovation in low-carbon technologies is essential to achieve our net-zero targets and to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. While both mature and novel low carbon technologies are already transforming the global economy, speeding up their deployment can reduce the cost of decarbonization, saving $2.7 trillion annually by 2050, and lower food […]
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21st October 2021 London, UK
Ignatius Sancho: changing perceptions of race in the 18th century
A few years ago, a plaque appeared on the side of the FCDO building in King Charles Street, Whitehall. Set high in the wall and easy to miss, it commemorates a former slave, abolitionist, writer, composer and grocer. Ignatius Sancho was a man who through his own authentic voice changed contemporary perceptions of what it […]
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13th October 2021 Stockholm, Sweden
Towards action-oriented climate adaptation research
This article is co-authored by Dr Jonathan Hassall, Environment Research Lead of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; and Dr Mikael Allan Mikaelsson, Europe Lead on Net-Zero Innovation & Climate Change of the UK Science & Innovation Network The 6th Assessment Report from the IPCC‘s Working Group I published in August 2021 painted a […]
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11th October 2021
Using the G7 to work alongside civil society to tackle corruption
This year I’ve had the privilege of heading the UK’s G7 anti-corruption efforts, negotiating the commitments which Interior and Security Ministers announced in September. I’ve worked on anti-corruption policy for more than five years and in that time have experienced the buzz of the 2016 London Anti-corruption Summit and the satisfaction of shepherding knotty issues […]
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22nd September 2021 Geneva, Switzerland
Disarmament blog: the UK Presidency of the Convention on Cluster Munitions
Yesterday we wrapped up the Second Review Conference of the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM). It’s been an unusual meeting, to say the least. We were supposed to gather in Lausanne in November last year. Of course, the pandemic put paid to that; so instead we held ‘part one’ online in November, and postponed the […]
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19th September 2021
Polar Diplomacy
The year 2021 marks several anniversaries for diplomacy in the Polar Regions. Whilst the Arctic and Antarctic are truly ‘Poles apart’, diplomacy for these icy regions shares common objectives of peace, security, sustainability and protection. Antarctica The Antarctic Treaty marked 60 years since its entry into force on 23 June 2021. The Treaty Parties marked […]
15th September 2021 Skopje, North Macedonia
What does democracy mean to you?
The year 2020 will be remembered by the world pandemic and the imposed restrictions on the daily lives of people worldwide. In the duration of the global pandemic, many countries imposed quarantines, police curfews, closed non-essential places, and completely changed the lives of millions of people. For many of us, it was the first time […]
10th September 2021
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
What I learned from my Youth Advisers
Not all of my ideas work out (ask my Embassy colleagues), but like many of the better ones the Youth Advisers group started with a nagging question that had been bothering me for a while. I often talked about the need to put young people here at the centre of my thinking, but how often […]