5th December 2018
Stockholm, Sweden
![](https://blogs.fcdo.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/clouds-dawn-dusk-157039-1-1-637x267.jpg)
This year’s annual gathering of the global climate community in Katowice, Poland, the 24th “Conference of the Parties” (COP24), falls against the backdrop of October’s landmark report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the impacts of global warming beyond 1.5°C and actions required to curb average global temperature rise within […]
Read more on The Path to 1.5 degrees: The Role of Climate Mitigation Technology and International Partnership | Reply (3)
16th November 2018
Calgary, Canada
![](https://blogs.fcdo.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sign-for-canada-blog-640x320-637x267.jpg)
In October, the UK marked Green Great Britain Week and the 10th anniversary of the Climate Change Act. In Calgary, we marked it by taking a closer look at Alberta’s massive energy sector and the opportunities for the UK. The Canadian province of Alberta is known worldwide as the ‘gateway to the Rockies’ and home […]
Read more on Green Great Britain Week at the British Consulate-General Calgary | Reply
3rd July 2017
Kolkata, India
![](https://blogs.fcdo.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/20161122_070536-637x267.jpg)
We now have the ability to surround ourselves with images that we record on our mobile phones. But the best images remain in your head. The monsoon rains have arrived in Kolkata. I was in my official car travelling through the city in the middle of a heavy storm last week. We passed an old […]
Read more on Almost a year, almost 70 years | Reply (7)
6th May 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
![COP21 conference, Le Bourget, France](https://blogs.fcdo.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/COPBourget-637x267.jpg)
The Green Ribbon awards are amongst Britain’s most prestigious environmental awards. They are awarded by The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), the leading independent Chartered professional body for water and environment professionals, which promotes excellence within the sector. They have been presented since 1993, and aim to celebrate the greatest environmental achievements […]
Read more on Pope Francis wins UK Green Ribbon award | Reply (5)
20th April 2016
New Delhi, India
I was privileged to attend the dissemination event of DFID’s CRISSA (Climate Research and Information Services in South Asia) programme which remains close to my heart due to my role in programme managing it during my short stint with the DFID’s South Asia Research Hub in 2012-13. As I spent two full days sitting back […]
Read more on Linking climate research to policy: a regional dialogue | Reply (1)
19th January 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
![](https://blogs.fcdo.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/12509712_985740028149064_79.jpg)
Pope Francis’s encyclical letter Laudato Si’ – On Care for our Common Home was released to the public seven months ago. A lot has happened in the interim. Most important was an ambitious new global climate agreement secured in Paris in December, welcomed and pushed for by the British government, at which 180 countries representing […]
Read more on Life Chances: Laudato Si’ half a year on | Reply (2)
23rd December 2015
Paris, France
![Solutions COP21 event, Grand Palais](https://blogs.fcdo.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/IMG_5539-637x267.jpg)
With considerable justification, COP21 has been widely hailed as a success. It reached a legally-binding agreement that aims to keep global warming well below 2 degrees, with a review-mechanism towards ever more ambitious targets, and financial commitments to support developing countries on their path towards environmental sustainability. This agreement is far better than most could […]
Read more on COP21: three trends towards fundamental change | Reply
11th December 2015
Paris, France
![The UK office during COP21, Le Bourget](https://blogs.fcdo.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/COP21-UKoffice-637x267.jpg)
This time last week we were at the start of COP21. The conference centre was smelling of woodchip (you can really tell how hard France have worked at making COP21 sustainable), there were still freebies being handed out, delegates were relatively smiley and positive (directly proportional to the quality/quantity of freebies and coffee, I have […]
Read more on COP21: the best things come to those who wait | Reply
21st May 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
![](https://blogs.fcdo.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/NewClimate-637x267.jpg)
This week I attended an important conference at the Pontifical Santa Croce University, on “The New Climate Economy. How Economic Growth and Sustainability Can Go Hand in Hand”. It was jointly organised by the Dutch Embassy to the Holy See and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and brought together leading political figures, business […]
Read more on Church, government, business: a climate change alliance | Reply
3rd February 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
![](https://blogs.fcdo.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/paul-gallagher-615x267.jpg)
The new Holy See Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, is well-named. When earlier this week Msgr. Gallagher met the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, the Deputy Secretary, the Maltese Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, reminded us that the name Gallagher is the anglicisation of the Irish surname Ó Gallchobhair, meaning “foreign help” or […]
Read more on Helping Pope Francis | Reply (1)