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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
19th July 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Geelong: identifying new economic opportunities
Traditional manufacturing centres in Australia and Britain continue to evolve as global supply chains are transformed. Geelong, Victoria’s second city, is responding to challenges which would be familiar in many British cities. Employment has been declining in its historical large manufacturing sectors like car-making and aluminium-smelting, not helped by the strong Australian dollar. Ford announced some further […]
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18th July 2012 New Delhi, India
Joint call for research proposals – Sustainable Bioenergy
Bioenergy is an energy source derived from organic matter, or biomass. It can be as low-tech as burning wood on an open fire or as high-tech as developing advanced production methods for biofuels. The unifying factor with all bioenergy sources, however, is that the carbon they contain (and emit when used) comes from plants, and […]
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18th July 2012 New Delhi, India
Innovation Redefined – India’s story
Science and Innovation history in India dates back to the Stone Age and continues to flourish today passing through generations of scientists. From Aryabhatta to C V Raman to the new brigade of scientists; the outlook of science has constantly changed to align itself with the ever changing domestic and global environment. Governments, businesses, civil society […]
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17th July 2012 Washington DC, USA
An Ambassador’s perspective: Boston knows innovation
The Boston area is home to many of the most famous sites of America’s break from Britain – the Old State House, where the royal governors sat; the Old North Church that launched Paul Revere’s famous ride; the harbour where the first tea party took place; and battlefields like Bunker Hill, Lexington and Concord where […]
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17th July 2012 Budapest, Hungary
The honour of being an Olympic Torch Bearer
Guest blog by Olympic Torch Bearer Andrea Snow It is magical being one of those 8,000 inspirational people, who carry the Olympic Flame as it journeys across UK before the Olympic Games begin on 27 July, 2012. Weymouth, 13 July 2012 I had several minutes of “flame” and a truly wonderful “moment to shine”; a […]
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16th July 2012 Nairobi, Kenya
Olympic dreams
There are days when you realise just how much of a privilege it is to be an Ambassador. Growing up in the UK, I vividly remember watching Daley Thompson, Seb Coe and Steve Redgrave achieving Olympic glory. This year, our hopes rest on the likes of Jessica Ennis, Tom Daley, and, of course, Mo Farah […]
13th July 2012 Washington DC, USA
A trip to 51 degrees south
In Washington DC, the summer climate has reached its miserable peak of 100+ degrees. While my colleagues are packing their swimsuits into their backpacks and heading off to the beach, I am scouring my closets for a warm winter coat to face the cold winds of the South Atlantic with a visit to the Falkland […]
13th July 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Hats Off to Good Government in Peru
This year, for the second year running, I have had the honour of sitting on the Technical Team that considers the applications to be considered in the “Good Practices in Public Management Prize”, a competition organised each year by Ciudadanos al Dia (CAD). As CAD explain on their website (www.ciudadanosaldia.org), the organisation is a private, […]
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13th July 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Religion against Poverty and Injustice
I take my title from the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, which on 3 July published a report on an important new development initiative in the United Kingdom, called “Faith Partnership Principles”. On 26 June, the Faith Partnership Principles paper was launched at an inter-faith event at Lambeth Palace, convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury and […]
13th July 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Iron awe in the Pilbara
Anglo Australian giant Rio Tinto earns $21bn a year from mining in Western Australia. They took me to visit their vast iron-ore mining operation in the remote Pilbara region, some 1000 km north of Perth. As I lined up at the airport with hundreds of miners in their hi-vis jackets, at 4.30 am, I reflected […]