Blog Action Day: Russia and Climate Change

One particular story caught my eye on the BBC website this morning.

It's a story which comes around every so often, but more so of late:  the Arctic ice is melting, and in fairly short order the Arctic Ocean will be sufficiently clear, at least in the Summer months, to dramatically shorten shipping times from Asia to Europe.  Another ten years or so, and the shipping lanes to the North of Russia could be bustling with fleets of ocean greyhounds, while the Northern ports enjoy a renaissance as new trading and refuelling hubs.

Which sounds great, of course.  And it's one of the many arguments often deployed here to counter the inevitability of climate change:  Surely, if the world were a few degrees warmer, Russia would benefit? 

Well, no.  There's a down-side for Russia, too.

Much of Arctic Russia is made up of permafrost - continuously frozen soil, rich in organic matter.  But it's melting, and that brings two problems.  First, as this Reuters piece explains, melting permafrost releases methane, itself a powerful "greenhouse gas".  And second, while frozen soil is fairly solid, melting permafrost turns into a boggy marsh.  Not so good if it's supporting towns, roads, energy installations and railways. A statistic I heard last week tells that around 5,000km of railway track are at risk if Russia's permafrost melts.

Further south, the fertile soils of the Volga basin - where, apparently, the right farming methods could close the world's hunger gap - are equally under threat.  So is the ecosystem of lake Baikal, the world's largest freshwater lake.  Cases of malaria across Russia have skyrocketed in recent years, with mosquitos venturing far further North than ever before.  And the beautiful city of St Petersburg, where I learned Russian, is threatened by rising sea levels.

I'm simplifying hugely, of course.  But the message is clear:  Russia has more to lose than gain from climate change.  Thankfully, Russia is also in a powerful position to sign up to ambitious targets at Copenhagen, and stick to them.

For more here's Ed Miliband, in Russia last week to talk to the government about why climate change matters.

Happy Blog Action Day.

Posted at 11:20 16 October 2009 by James Barbour  | 

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Posted at 19:01 01 September 2009 by e-Media Global  | 

Diplo-brats?

In itinerant professions such as mine, one of the more common topics of conversation is the effect of our regular upheavals on our families. Uprooting every few years isn't always easy on spouses and children, and on their friendships, education and careers.

I'm fortunate enough to have a spouse whose career is relatively portable. I also have two children who are having very different growing up experiences to their peer group in the UK. Their friendships are more transient, a self-defence policy against the constant cycle of best friends who disappear. They see their extended family far less than I'd like. Their education is broader but less UK-focused; my daughter probably knows a number of other countries' political systems better than she knows our own. And, culturally, these 'third-country nationals' often seem on a different planet, missing out on kids' TV shows, music and other popular culture. Not to mention the transatlantic accent which, thankfully, they seem to learn to switch on and off at will - another defence mechanism, perhaps.

But there's an up-side, too.

This term, the 5th grade class have been conducting various bits of writing, research and presentation around their topic of choice. Cats, horses, cars and football seem to figure fairly high up the list. I expected something along similar lines when I asked my daughter what her subject would be; fairies, perhaps, or dragons.

"Conflict," she pronounced. "Specifically, the situation in Gaza, and how the different people involved see it."

Gosh. So we're not just talking conflict, but empathy and constructivism, too.

A few weeks later, and she's inspired the whole class to get involved in examining the nature of conflict, both global and personal. I'm impressed.

I asked her why she'd gone for such a grown-up and complex topic.

"Well, I'm really interested in what Embassies and Diplomats do, and I think it's important for people to get along with others," was the exceptionally grown-up reply.

A small example, perhaps, but illustrative of the variety of experiences - and consequent breadth of worldview - that foreign service children are fortunate enough to enjoy, in exchange for the disruption and transience. Well worth the trade-off, if you ask me.

I hope my children agree.

Posted at 06:43 26 May 2009 by James Barbour  |  Comments[2]

Eurovision: The fun and the serious

I used to love the Eurovision Song Contest.  I'm exactly the right age to just about remember Bucks Fizz's win in 1981 with 'Making your Mind Up'.

Well this week, Eurovision fever has well and truly gripped Moscow.  I arrived back in town from Barcelona on Saturday, on the same 'plane as the Andorran entry, and the road on the way in from the airport is festooned with brightly-coloured Eurovision banners.  In fact, all the city's major roads are - there are even Eurovision symbols painted on the tarmac itself in many places.  Visitors have descended on Moscow this week from all over Europe and beyond, with even more expected to arrive before the final on Saturday.  Tickets for even the initial heats are, I understand, changing hands for several hundred Euros.

Eurovision is, of course, a great showcasing opportunity for each of the 45 countries involved.  So ever since Dima Bilan won Eurovision 2008 for Russia, we've been planning how to make the most of it.  Jade Ewen, Britain's entry, has already visited Moscow a couple of times, as have delegations from her record company and from the BBC.  Media coverage here of the contest as a whole - and the UK entry in particular - has been huge.

Eurovision's not without its controversies, of course.  Georgia has withdrawn from this year's contest, in protest at the banning of its song, "We don't wanna put in".  Terry Wogan has abandoned his traditional role as the BBC's commentator, in protest at 'bloc voting'; Graham Norton takes over the hot seat of what Wogan denounced as a "camp, foolish spectacle".  Well, foolish it may be, but you'd struggle to find anyone in Moscow this week who's not excited.

Except, perhaps, for Moscow's Mayor, Yuri Luzhkov.  Eurovision has a huge gay following, and many of the people flocking to Moscow this week - along with members of Moscow's LGBT community - are hoping to take part in a gay rights parade on Saturday, the afternoon before the Eurovision final.  Mayor Luzhkov has explicitly banned such parades, which he views as "satanic" and "weapons of mass destruction".  If the parade goes ahead despite the ban, and clashes result, things could turn sour.

This would be a huge shame for Moscow.  The city went to fantastic efforts when it hosted the Champions League Final last year.  Tens of thousands of British football fans came to Moscow, had a fantastic time, watched a great game of football, and went home happy.  More than that, Moscow demonstrated to the fans - and to the whole world - that it was capable of organising a world-class event which ran like clockwork.

Let's hope nothing happens on Saturday to undo the PR coup Moscow's Champions League Final represented - although we've a consular team on standby just in case.  In the meantime, if you're coming to Moscow - or if you're already here - and you're thinking of taking part in Saturday's parade, take a look at our travel advice.

Today, though, the focus remains strictly on fun.  This evening we've taken over the VIP area of the 'EuroDom', a huge exhibition hall in the centre of Moscow which has been turned into a focal point for Eurovision events.  Lord Lloyd Webber, Jade, Graham Norton and a cross-section of VIPs and society journalists, will all be there to wish Jade well at the finals on Saturday.  Whether this will be enough to overcome the 'bloc voting' remains to be seen. 

At least, thanks to Lord Lloyd Webber, we know she's got Prime Minister Putin's vote.

Posted at 20:40 14 May 2009 by James Barbour  |  Comments[1]

Twitter chatter

Posted at 19:50 30 April 2009 by James Barbour  |  Comments[1]

Изменение климата: время действий

Вот, мой первый блог на русском языке!  

Вчера в Коммерсантъ была опубликована эта статья:

Низкоуглеродной экономике нужны профессионалы 

Посол Великобритании в России Анн Прингл 

Мировой финансовый кризис ставит перед нами экономические и социальные задачи огромной важности и сложности. Предстоит не просто восстановить глобальную экономику, а добиться устойчивого выздоровления, найти долгосрочное, надежное решение - основу послекризисного мира.

Оздоровление экономики не должно помешать нам противодействовать опасному изменению климата; эта работа - одна из труднейших и самых необходимых. Выход из кризиса, основанный на высоком потреблении углеродов, - это не выход.

На прошлой неделе в Давосе главы правительств и бизнеса обсудили мировой экономический спад. Премьер-министр Великобритании Гордон Браун призвал найти выход из кризиса, основанный на международном консенсусе и предполагающий низкое потребление углеродов. Он напомнил: «Если к 2050 году мы не уменьшим выбросы хотя бы вдвое, - потерпим гуманитарную и экономическую катастрофу, несоизмеримо большую, чем нынешний кризис».

Это обращение напоминает, что движение в сторону низкоуглеродной экономики - безотлагательная политическая необходимость. Изменение климата - не та проблема, которую можно положить в "долгий ящик": мы уже ощущаем ее воздействие, а в будущем оно будет только расти.

Лидеры многих стран мира уже приняли меры по снижению потребления углеродов. Это стремление присутствует в программе президента США Барака Обамы "Зеленые" рабочие места" (Green Jobs), в планах Евросоюза по экономическому выздоровлению, в комплексах мер, принятых КНР, Японией, Австралией, Францией. Низкое потребление углеродов - основа британской промышленной стратегии; она и называется "Низкоуглеродная промышленная стратегия" (Low Carbon Industrial Strategy).

Здесь в России, правительство поставило амбициозные цели по снижению энергоемкости производства, уменьшению сжигания попутного газа, увеличению доли атомной энергии и энергии из восстановимых источников. Премьер-министр Владимир Путин в его речи в Давосе признал: "Именно повышение энергоэффективности рассматриваем как один из ключевых факторов энергобезопасности и будущего развития".

Очертания устойчивой, способной сопротивляться кризисам экономической системы проясняются: становится очевидно, что она должна быть основана на низком потреблении углеродов. А это значит - увеличение инвестиций в энергетические технологии высокой эффективности; рост важности атомной энергетики и возобновляемых источников энергии; новые инженерные решения для распределительных электрических сетей; ускоренное освоение новых транспортных технологий, интенсификация исследований и разработок в области поиска новых энергетических технологий; повышенное финансирование и развитие естественнонаучного и инженерного образования. Низкоуглеродная экономика требует профессионалов - образованных, прекрасно обученных своему делу людей, и мы должны обеспечить их подготовку.

Положив в основу экономического выздоровления пониженное потребление углеродов, мы достигнем трех целей. Все они важны для того, чтобы рост начался быстрее и был устойчивым. Первая: обеспечение необходимых капиталовложений в производство и создание новых рабочих мест. Вторая: повышение энергетической безопасности путем уменьшения нашей  зависимости от нефти. Третья: решение проблемы изменения климата благодаря уменьшению промышленных выбросов.

Только при новом уровне партнерства государства и бизнеса можно достичь этих целей максимально эффективно и с наилучшими шансами на успех. Именно поэтому, выступая в Давосе, премьер-министр Великобритании призвал бизнес стать во главе процесса. Эту работу уже поддержали те, кто принимает политические решения и определяет экономическую политику. Совместная работа поможет создать новую глобальную конъюнктуру, благоприятствующую капиталовложениям в низкоуглеродную экономику, способную обеспечить создание рабочих мест и экономический рост.  

Рабочая группа, которую возглавили представители бизнеса, представит свой первый доклад на Лондонском саммите мировых лидеров в апреле. Их сотрудничество, вместе с усилиями общественности по всему миру, я уверена, помогут решить задачу, которая стоит перед всеми нами. Действуя порознь, мы не достигнем желаемого, вместе же можем добиться успеха, - и добьемся.

Posted at 14:39 06 February 2009 by James Barbour  |  Comments[5]

Russia: The Price of Truth

Posted at 12:57 20 January 2009 by James Barbour  |  Comments[3]

Human Rights in Russia: 60 years young

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is 60 today.  The world has changed immeasurably in those 60 years, and Russia is no exception.

Late 1948 was a particularly grim period for relations between the West and Stalin’s USSR.  The ramifications of Yalta and Potsdam were only beginning to make themselves apparent.  The Czech coup earlier in the year had shocked Western leaders, the Berlin blockade was in full swing, the formation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact was just around the corner, and war-by-proxy in Korea was barely a year or so away.

The Cold War arms race, which would continue for decades and ultimately bankrupt the Soviet Union, was just beginning, with both blocs frantically developing bigger bombs and faster fighter jets.

Against this backdrop it’s nothing short of miraculous that the UN found itself able to reach agreement on a text which, despite eight abstentions including the USSR, no one country felt able to vote against.

Fast-forward to the 21^st Century, where the human rights enjoyed by today’s Russians could not even have been imagined by their forebears sixty years ago.  But, as the UK’s own Annual Human Rights Report tells us, there is considerable progress still to be made before Russia can genuinely be said to have espoused the UDHR.  And we’re doing a lot to try to help.

Every year , a group of senior officials from the UK and Russia meet to talk about human rights issues, and how to make progress.  They will meet again in Moscow early next year.  We also participate in regular EU/Russia human rights talks; the last session, held in October this year, discussed a range of issues including equality and minorities, NGOs and civil society, freedom of expression and the rule of law.

As an Embassy we support a range of projects in priority areas, including human rights.  This year we’re spending around £1.5 million working with civil society in the sphere of human rights and good governance.  These projects help to address such key issues as penal reform, media freedom, inter-ethnic conflict, discrimination, and the strengthening of human rights institutions and civil society.

There are some real, tangible outcomes, too – for example a book we produced last year at the end of a successful series of seminars on tolerance is now used as a textbook in Russian schools.  Another project helped to draft new legislation on public oversight of the penitentiary system, which President Medvedev signed into law in June 2008.  As a result, regional supervisory commissions will be able to observe human rights in prisons and, where necessary, provide assistance to prisoners.

Why do we care?  For the answer to that I’ll turn to Hansard, and the evidence the FCO submitted to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee last year

We want to see democracy in Russia deliver political pluralism and all its associated freedoms. We believe that an open and democratic Russia will provide better opportunities for the Russian people and consolidate Russia as a stable and reliable international partner for the global community. 

It’s a no-brainer, really. When you’re looking at global issues such as climate change, nuclear proliferation and, most recently, the stability of the global economy, you can’t hope to make a difference without Russia.  So we want – need – Russia to be a stable, reliable partner in the international community, and we want to improve the lives of Russian people into the bargain.

It’s better for us, it’s better for Russia, and it’s better for everyone.

Posted at 13:51 10 December 2008 by James Barbour  |  Comments[1]

How times change

I joined the FCO just over eleven years ago.  In my first department was a gentleman, a year away from retirement, whose first posting had been to Accra.  He'd travelled there by sea, as had his possessions, his mail, and what few family members had been able to visit him.

Posted at 07:59 12 November 2008 by James Barbour  | 

Remembrance Day: Russia

Few readers will need reminding that tomorrow is the nintieth anniversary of the 1918 Armistice.  British Embassies and High Commissions around the world commemorate November 11th in a multitude of ways, and the Embassy in Moscow is no exception.  Yesterday, on Remembrance Sunday, some 150 people - including representatives from 26 Embassies - gathered at St Andrew's Anglican Church in Moscow for a traditional remembrance service, followed by a reception at our Ambassador's Residence.

Remembrance in Russia, though, goes far beyond an annual church service.  The older generation, in particular, are tremendously proud of what they see as a shared military history between the UK and Russia.  And the UK is still seen as the ally which stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Russia during the 'Great Patriotic War' in which 27 million Russians died.  When I arrived in St Petersburg on language training last Summer my host, Oleg, greeted me with the words "Спасибо за Спитфайры" - "thank you for the Spitfires".  He was a blokadnik - born during the 900-day siege of Leningrad (now St Petersburg), and I spent more than one evening hearing stories of boiling shoe-leather to make soup, or making bread by mixing sawdust into the dough to make the flour stretch further.

The present-day read-across of this shared history and mutual respect is huge.  Take, for example, the Remembrance Tour by three members of our Defence Section last year - a gruelling 1,000-mile cycle marathon between St Petersburg and Volgograd, during which wreaths were laid at 11 war memorials en-route.  Or the exhibiton of photographs taken by a Russian sailor aboard the Arctic supply convoys, which we staged here at the Embassy earlier this year to coincide with an event to commemorate (and save) HMS Belfast, the 'Last Witness' of the convoys.

Or the laying of a wreath at the Eternal Flame in the Kremlin wall, in October 2007, by a group of English football fans.  Half-way through the ceremony a group of Russian fans turned up, singing and waving their Lokomotiv and Dynamo scarves.  We, and the accompanying police presence, started to feel slightly nervous; were they looking for trouble?  No, they just wanted to tell their English counterparts how much they appreciated the gesture, and to wish them well for the following day's Euro 2008 qualifier.

Which England lost, 2-1.

Posted at 15:15 10 November 2008 by James Barbour  | 

When Ministers come to town

Apologies for the week or so's silence.  As those of you who follow the UK press will be aware, we had a high-profile visitor last week in the form of Lord Mandelson, recently returned to the government as Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, and accompanied by a delegation of businessmen led by Richard Lambert, Director-General the CBI.

Being the first visit to Russia by a Cabinet Minister in over a year and a half, this was always going an important visit for us.  And every time I'm involved in this kind of visit I'm reminded just how much work goes into them.  The months of planning, juggling the programme, finessing the logistics and (where I come in) managing the media - to make sure we provide the right amount of access to secure the coverage we want for the visit, but also to make sure the coverage stays as  
focussed as possible on the substance.

All the hard work paid off, too.  Lord Mandelson held productive meetings with a number of his Russian counterparts, the business delegation made some useful links, and the news was almost all good.  So next time you see a Minister on the news, visiting a far-flung corner of the world, spare a thought for all the advance work that goes on behind the scenes.

Light blogging ahead for this week, too, I'm afraid.  It's half-term, so I'm spending some time at home.  Later this week I'm in London for a meeting of Senior Regional Communicators - more on this when I return.

Posted at 10:29 03 November 2008 by James Barbour  | 

Going nuclear

Some great photos have just come my way which illustrate some of the UK’s work with Russia on the nuclear legacy of the former Soviet Union.

The hulk in the picture is a November-class nuclear-powered attack submarine, one of fourteen such craft which patrolled the seas for two decades of the Cold War.

Times change, and last week NPS-291 made her final voyage, to Russia’s Nerpa shipyard.

Look closely at the grey blocks on either side of the hull. Those, our Naval Attaché tells me, are SPS-200 pontoons, designed specifically for towing submarines, like NPS-291, which can no longer stay afloat themselves – and paid for by the UK. On the decals on the front of them you’ll see the flags of the UK, Norway, the US and Russia. These are the four countries of AMEC – Arctic Military Environment Cooperation – countries, a multilateral initiative to help address environmental problems in the Arctic region associated with Russian nuclear submarine decommissioning.

NPS-291 will now be dismantled at Nerpa, her nuclear reactors having already been safely decommissioned. And the pontoons, having proven themselves with flying colours, are now ready to be used again for similar operations.

Posted at 19:02 21 October 2008 by James Barbour  | 

Blog Action Day: Russia and development

Today is Blog Action Day.  Almost 10,000 blogs have signed up to discuss the same topic on the same day – poverty.

One of the goals for this blog is to expand on this Embassy, who we are and what we do. So for today's post I want to talk a little about what DFID, the UK’s Department for International Development, is up to in Russia.

One of the basic premises on which we, as a government, engage with Russia is that, in whatever we want to achieve internationally, Russia - as a G8 and P5 colleague - is an important partner. This includes international development.

As a government our primary objective, through DFID, is to achieve long-term poverty reduction, in line with the UN Millennium Development Goals.  But we can't achieve this on our own.  We need the rest of the international community, including Russia, on board.  Which is why this Embassy has a Development Secretary, my friend and colleague Tom Kelly.

Tom has been in Russia for about a year, working closely with both the Russian government and the World Bank here in Russia .  He's working on a programme of support with the World Bank that will help the Russian Government in several key areas:

- providing technical capacity so Russia can learn how other G8 countries manage their aid programmes;

- better co-ordinating our aid in sectors and regions that both the UK and Russia have prioritised (health and education, and Central Asia);

- building stronger partnerships for more and better aid in Russia, working with the World Bank, NGOs and the Russian academic community.

It’s early days, but Tom’s work has four practical outputs which, if achieved, will help to strengthen and channel Russia’s role as a development partner .  These are key areas where the Russian Government have asked for support. 

1.  Aid statistics reporting.   Russia plans to double its aid spending.  But like any big donor, it wants to be able to record and report its aid accurately.  We are helping Russia to develop an aid reporting system that benefits from the experience of established donors such as the OECD donor group (of which the UK is part) . In other words, we all need to know what each other is doing, and to speak the same language.

2.  Monitoring and evaluation. Like us, Russia wants to track the impact of its aid –  so it knows that its aid is being well spent, and in areas where support is needed.

3.  Communications. Like in the UK, Russia wants to be able to tell its politicians and its public why and how aid is being provided, so that the case for a Russian aid programme is understood and supported.

4.  Courses in international development. Russia has some strong, world-class academic institutions. We want to build awareness of aid in Russia, using these institutions and linking them with similar people elsewhere in the world. All the established donor countries agree that policy advice and guidance on development, from a range of sources - Government, civil society, academic - is vital in developing sound aid policy and programmes.  We want to help Russia do this, too.    

We know Russia takes development seriously. The Prime Minister and President Medvedev talked about development when they met earlier this year. David Miliband and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, include development on the agenda of their discussions.

This is good.

If you’re trying to achieve a goal as important and as tough as poverty elimination, working with Russia isn’t optional, it’s vital.

Posted at 07:10 15 October 2008 by James Barbour  |  Comments[3]

All change

Monday mornings are always busy, with the weekend’s media to catch up on, the week ahead to get my teeth into, and inevitably a few surprises thrown into the mix.  And if that’s a typical Monday morning, today is a Monday morning on steroids.  It’s not just starting this blog that’s atypical, either.

I’m just back from a week’s leave, which meant an early start to get through several hundred emails before the Ambassador’s 9.30 meeting, which sets the tone for the rest of the day.  No Ambassador at today’s 9.30, of course.  Our new boss, Anne Pringle, arrives in Moscow this afternoon to take up her post.  The Russian media are already keen to get to know her – as one of the highest-profile Embassies in Moscow, a change of British Ambassador is always going to attract a lot of media attention.

There’s change afoot at Ministerial level, too.  Caroline Flint is now ‘our’ Minister, with Jim Murphy moving on from Minister for Europe to become Secretary of State for Scotland.  I wonder if he’ll take his blog with him? 

Peter Mandelson’s appointment as Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has grabbed a fair share of this morning’s headlines here, no surprise given the size of the UK-Russia trade relationship.  And I’m very excited by the new Department for Energy and Climate Change which brings two key issues, both for the government and for this Embassy, together under Ed Miliband.

Right, time for a quick coffee and then off to the airport, in case the Ambassador’s arrival turns into an impromptu media event.  No wonder it’s easy to forget that this time on Friday I was in a café in a small town in Provence, reading the ‘paper with a citron pressé …

Posted at 11:44 06 October 2008 by James Barbour  |