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The climate crisis and gender-based violence
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Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
28th March 2012 Warsaw, Poland
UKTI Deputy CEO sees Polish Opportunity First Hand
Poland tops the opportunity rankings in Central Europe. We are the largest export destination and the biggest population with the longest road to EU convergence – the latter really matters in appreciating the full potential of Poland’s growth cycle. Our UKTI Deputy CEO, Susan Haird, was in town last week for a two day market […]
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28th March 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Ambo in Ambo
“Ambo” is slang for Ambassador. So as soon as I knew of the existence of a town by that name in Ethiopia, I was keen to visit – I’ll go a long way for a good blog title. So I visited Ambo last Friday, not least so I could learn more about development outside of […]
27th March 2012 Ottawa, Canada
Low-carbon opportunities
I was at GLOBE 2012 in Vancouver, from 14-16 March. The conference looked at environmental, energy and sustainability issues. I’ve recorded a short video blog, which touches on the subjects and talks briefly about the London Olympics. Do watch it, and I hope it’s of interest. Many thanks. Andrew
26th March 2012 Lima, Peru
Ecobuild 2012: The perfect place to be at
By Juan Luis Reus, Deputy Director UK Trade & Investment, Peru Ecobuild 2012 in the UK is one of the most important and largest world Expos for the construction sector, with a major emphasis on sustainable construction for preserving our environment and conserving energy resources. This is the perfect place to be right now for a […]
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26th March 2012 Washington DC, USA
Prime Ministerial March Mayhem
While most of America may have spent last week focussed on brackets and upsets, we had our own bit of March Madness here in DC: an official visit from Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha, as well as the Chancellor and Foreign Secretary. And what a visit it was. I was on the […]
26th March 2012 Guatemala City, Guatemala
The Falkland Islands and self-determination
Now that Julie Chappell has sadly left Guatemala at the end of her posting, I’m taking over blogging responsibilities here. I have been in Guatemala since August 2009 as Deputy Head of Mission in the Embassy, but for the next few months I’ll be stand-in Ambassador – Charge d’Affaires in diplomatic speak – until the […]
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26th March 2012 Geneva, Switzerland
Council Catharsis
For every Council delegate there is one resolution, above all others, whose success or failure takes over their life. It dominates their working hours and prays on their subconscious mind even during the little sleep it’s possible to squeeze in. For me, it was Sri Lanka. There was a huge amount riding on the United […]
25th March 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
“Water, water everywhere…”
“… but not a drop to drink” said the old sailor adrift on the unforgiving ocean. There’s been plenty of water in Jordan in the last 3 months. Raindrops kept falling on our heads and we even had a weekend of snow in Amman. We should be happy because the dams are filling up. Maybe […]
23rd March 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Ukraine’s 2012 elections: a welcome move
I blogged last week about how an early invitation to OSCE/ODIHR1 to send observers to the October 2012 parliamentary elections would be a “quick win” to help Ukraine show its commitment to democracy. I subsequently saw a tweet from Foreign Minister Hryshchenko on 19 March saying that he had just signed off such an invitation. […]
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22nd March 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Ukrainian economic success?
I am frequently alerted by commercial contacts to difficulties with the Ukrainian business environment; and have often blogged on this subject. So it was interesting to hear from a leading independent economist recently the view that there had been some progress on macroeconomic reform recently. The economist said this had included: – The 2011 Pension reform […]