22nd September 2011
I was in the Pauline-Carmelite Monastery at Sopronfalva this morning. Lovingly and beautifully restored through the vision of Gabor Kovacs (KOGART), it is now a hotel, conference facility and meditation centre. It’s an excellent example of how a cultural heritage conservation project can be integrated into a local community. But today the monastery was the […]
16th September 2011 London, UK
During my visit to Oslo this week, I was reminded of the strength and depth of our relationship with Norway, and the wide range of issues where we have shared interests. The UK and Norway are partners in NATO in Afghanistan, we have a longstanding energy relationship, and a common interest in developing regional trade. […]
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2nd September 2011
A dozen TV cameras zoom in on a pen and an inch-thick contract. Signatures are completed; contracts swapped; and more signatures added. Eventually the process is complete and there are handshakes and a round of applause. I am at the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy to witness the signing of an important Joint Activity Agreement between […]
19th July 2011
Our growing electricity needs, and the way we waste our energy, are one of the principal clauses of global warming in the world. All governments are grappling with the problem of rising demand and the contradictory need to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Bolivia is not immune. The British government recently published an Electricity Market Reform […]
10th June 2011 Toronto, Canada
This is John Preece guestblogging about the recent Equinox Summit, a week-long forum of the Waterloo Global Science Initiative with a mandate (this year) to bring about a clean, secure global energy future. Scientists, engineers, policymakers and other experts discussed a wide range of scenarios, producing a summary communiqué [PDF] with a comprehensive briefing to […]
19th April 2011 Toronto, Canada
This is John Preece guestblogging about the recent CN Tower Climb, where two teams from the British Consulate-General in Toronto (one of which included myself) raced up the 1,776 steps and raised over $6,600 for WWF Canada. “Where’s the science?” I hear you cry – read on! First of all, a quick statistical analysis of […]
4th April 2011
Sounds like a great deal in these days of expensive fuel! But this is the challenge to schools and colleges competing in the XXVIIth Shell Eco Marathon in May – to build vehicles able to achieve this goal and win the race. 5 Hungarian teams are participating this year. And on Friday one of the […]
24th March 2011
The Informal Environment Council taking place in Gödöllő on 25-26 March has an exciting agenda even if it doesn’t have a snappy title. This is for several reasons. The topics for discussion are water and climate policy – an appropriate combination from Hungary’s point of view. Because focusing on water issues seems to be able […]
13th March 2011
Clearly energy will be a prominent feature of our work in connection with Hungary’s EU Presidency throughout the spring. The Commission published its Low Carbon Roadmap on 8 March and UK diplomatic efforts are now focussed on raising Europe’s ambitions to build a low carbon economy. This effort is especially relevant in Central and Eastern […]
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7th March 2011
“Transparency” is a big buzzword whenever people talk about improving the business climate in Ukraine. Everyone agrees that if we can increase transparency in the way economy is run, with a level playing field for all and transparent arrangements for eg tax payments, the business climate will improve. That in turn will boost Foreign Direct […]