WELCOME TO THE MAY / JUNE ISSUE OF DIPLOMAT

THIS WEEK THE G7 POWERS met in London for their first face-to-face meetings in over two years. Held amid tight COVID restrictions, the talks discussed challenges including climate change and threats to human rights. Regular contributor James Landale considers the return to face-to-face diplomacy. How might diplomacy have to change as the world slowly moves out of the constraints of the health pandemic? And what lessons can we learn from this week and the prospects for the G7 in June and the COP26 summit in the autumn?

As these two large international summits hosted by the UK continue to dominate 2021’s diplomatic agenda, former UK Minister for Climate Change and Energy who brought forward the UK’s ground-breaking Net Zero legislation and led its winning bid to host COP26, Rt Hon Claire O’Perry Neill, says there is a “unique opportunity for the UK to show global leadership in decarbonising an industrial economy by highlighting the role that the private sector must play going forward.” She believes that public-private partnership must be at the heart of tackling climate change ahead of COP26.

Diplomat reports from the P4G Seoul Summit Pre- Event. P4G – Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 – is a global platform pioneering green partnerships to build sustainable and resilient economies. P4G bridges the gap between development and investment agendas to scale breakthrough solutions in developing countries to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.

We are delighted to have the Ambassadors of Georgia and Uzbekistan writing for us during the year that each of their countries celebrate 30 years of independence. UDSS continue their series of articles on defence for Diplomat, this time considering what a supercharged national resilience strategy might look like.

Founder of www.theExpater. com tackles the all-too-common issue of spousal discontent in expat life. From personal experience, she notes that organisations put a great emphasis on the initial relocation stage, but generally neglect the equally challenging repatriation phase. As she contemplates her family’s next move to Uruguay (from Ecuador), she asks if spouses should be integrated within the expat package, and not bolted on as an afterthought?

From his Stradivari violin to vodka shots and Russian nuclear waste, Desmond Cecil CMG offers an entertaining preview of what to expect from his diplomatic memoir. The book contains fascinating insights into the music, diplomatic and nuclear callings, anecdotes of some of the important European and British politicians of the past 40 years, and charming stories of some of the famous musicians he has known, such as Yehudi Menuhin, Max Rostal, Kurt Masur and others.

Diplomat continues to review the credentials of new heads of mission accredited to the Court of St James’s, this month meeting the Ambassadors of Haiti, Indonesia, Israel and Mexico.

Now the UK government has published its ‘green list’ of countries safe to travel to this summer, we can plan for brighter days ahead! In our lifestyle pages, Diplomat talks to The Niche Traveller, an online travel platform that can help families and groups keen to take a special trip this summer. They have discovered that people require advice when it comes to deciding where to go, and have concerns over cancellation policies with the ongoing changes in government guidelines.

The BMW Diplomatic Sales Team provide us with a preview of their evolutionary all-electric SUV, the new BMW iX3, and our friends at International Diplomatic Supplies offer some sunshine tipple suggestions for outdoor enjoyment and entertaining.

Please do stay in touch and send me article suggestions, new appointments and mission news that you would like covered. Follow and contact us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook – our reach is growing on these platforms – we are happy to share your news on social media too.

Please stay safe in the meantime.

Venetia de Blocq van Kuffeler

Editor

vvk@diplomatmagazine.com

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