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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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The climate crisis and gender-based violence
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Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
2nd December 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Top-End British Design in Kyiv
There are few things which make me happier than to see the ambassador’s residence here in Kyiv packed with British business types. So I was delighted recently when the residence hosted a “British Design Showcase”, bringing together a series of English and Scottish companies specialising in UK-produced textiles, wallpapers, curtain poles, furniture and fabrics. To […]
2nd December 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
British MPs study gambling in Australia
I was in Sydney this week with the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, who are conducting a study on gambling. The group consisted of three Conservatives, one Lib Dem and one Labour MP, and was led by committee chair John Whittingdale MP, who I used to work with 25 years ago […]
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1st December 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Whatever happened to the Green Revolution?
Another international meeting on climate change opened in South Africa this week. So what? Surely it’s just another endless gathering of bureaucrats that will generate a lot of hot air, waste a lot of paper, and end up with little to show for it? Of course not. The environment matters. Last year was the hottest on record. This […]
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1st December 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Triumphs and challenges of Communism and Cossacks
Which Ukrainian city is famous both as a Cossack stronghold and as the home of one of the Soviet Union’s biggest electrification projects? The answer is of course Zaporizhia, a city of three quarters of a million people on the banks of the Dnieper in eastern Ukraine. Entering the city from the north you drive […]
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1st December 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Climate Change: Protecting Creation
At the Angelus in St Peter’s Square on Sunday 27 November, Pope Benedict XVI made a special appeal in support of an agreement at the Durban Conference on Climate Change. The Pope said: “Tomorrow in Durban, South Africa, work begins at the UN Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. I hope that all […]
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1st December 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Hail the Paralympians!
3 December is the International Day of People with Disability. I celebrated it a few days in advance with a reception at the Residence for Romania’s paralympic athletes who will be going to London next year. Romania is sending its biggest ever team to the Paralympic Games in London. Whereas in Beijing there were only […]
30th November 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
St Andrew’s Day in Mexico
Guest blog by Justin McKenzie Smith * “Today, 30 November is St Andrew’s Day, Scotland’s national day. It also marks the start of a series of wonderful Winter Festivals in Scotland which light up the dark nights of this special season. You can read more about St Andrew’s Day and the winter festivals on the Gateway […]
30th November 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Tech City, an opportunity for Mexican entrepreneurs
Guest blog by Matthew Whiteley* ‘Innovation’ is the buzz word that rattling around business receptions, articles and blogs throughout the UK and the US, as it is innovation – ideas that are turned into goods or services for which people are willing to pay – that will keep the UK and the US economically competitive. But […]
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30th November 2011 Ottawa, Canada
A Maritime blitz
There’s a guest video on the blog today – Jonathan Dart, our Consul-General in Toronto and the head of the UK Trade and Industry network in Canada. We’ve being doing a bit of a blitz in the Maritime Provinces. Jonathan’s been at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, talking tidal energy and marine research; and then […]
30th November 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
EU help for Ukrainian borders
Last year I wrote a blog about three big seizures of cocaine in Ukraine. So I was interested when the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) held a seminar on counter-narcotics recently for Ukrainian and Moldovan law enforcement agencies. The seminar took place in the EUBAM HQ in Odesa and involved 18 Ukrainian participants from the […]