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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of Stay Ahead of the Games UK in Ukraine

14th February 2012

London 2012: Gymnasts, Judo and Climate Change

Last week the embassy hosted a reception to celebrate the fact that the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games this summer in London will be the greenest and most sustainable ever. I was pleased to welcome not only the President of the Ukrainian Paralympics Committee Valeriy Sushkevych, the General Secretary of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee Volodymyr Gerashchenko and Head of the State Service for Youth and Sports Ravil Safiullin; but also green campaigner and singer Alyosha and, best of all, Ukrainian elite gymnast – and former World Champion – Hanna Bessonova and Judo Olympic medallist Roman Gontiuk.

I look forward to seeing Roman competing in London and hope the Ukrainian Olympic team will have a successful Games.

The high environmental standards of London 2012 are an example of the UK putting its money where its mouth is in its support for climate change, including support for a global climate deal under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

You can read all about the event, including some links to green facts about London 2012 and the “Game Changer: Britain Prepares” film, at the link above.

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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Green reception London2012 Olympics UK ukraine

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