O Reino Unido recebeu no dia 10 de setembro um enorme impulso para o trabalho no combate às mudanças climáticas. Aliados internacionais deram apoio formal para que o país sedie a 26ª Conferência da ONU sobre Mudanças Climáticas, a COP26, em 2020.

O evento que ocorrerá na cidade de Glasgow, no próximo ano, reunirá mais de 30 mil delegados de todo o mundo, incluindo especialistas em clima, líderes empresariais e cidadãos para acordar ações ambiciosas que enfrentem as mudanças climáticas.

O anúncio significa que o Reino Unido é, agora, oficialmente apoiado pelo grupo de países responsáveis pela nomeação do anfitrião de 2020.

Isto segue o compromisso do primeiro-ministro na cúpula do G7, em Biarritz, garantindo que a COP26 aborde as alterações climáticas e a biodiversidade como dois lados da mesma moeda.

A nomeação formal do Reino Unido, em parceria com a Itália, é esperada na COP25, em dezembro, no Chile.

O ministro das Relações Exteriores, Dominic Raab, saudou a notícia:

“O Reino Unido acaba de receber um enorme voto de confiança de nossos parceiros internacionais. Estamos prestes a sediar as próximas grandes negociações climáticas mundiais, em parceria com a Itália. Mais de 30 mil delegados de todo o mundo se reunirão a fim de se comprometerem com ações ambiciosas para combater as mudanças climáticas. Estamos prontos para unir o mundo e nos certificar que nosso precioso meio ambiente estará em melhores condições para a próxima geração.”

Claire Perry, presidente nominada no Reino Unido para a COP26, disse:

“Em 2020, os líderes mundiais se reunirão para discutir como lidar com as mudanças climáticas em uma escala global. O local não poderia ser melhor escolhido. Glasgow é uma das cidades mais sustentáveis do Reino Unido e com histórico em sediar eventos internacionais de alto perfil. Parabenizo a nomeação de nossos parceiros no grupo regional da ONU para sediar COP26, em parceria com a Itália. O Reino Unido é um líder mundial na redução de emissões, e, recentemente nos comprometemos a reduzir as nossas emissões de carbono para zero até 2025.”

O secretário de Desenvolvimento Internacional, Alok Sharma, complementou:

“Esta nomeação é um testemunho do papel de liderança do Reino Unido na luta global contra as alterações climáticas. A ajuda do Reino Unido contribuiu para que milhões de pessoas nos países em desenvolvimento tenham acesso à energia limpa e a se prepararem para o impacto das alterações climáticas. Estamos protegendo o nosso planeta para o futuro.”

A Downing Street spokesman said:

The Prime Minister welcomed more than 100 business leaders from across Northern Ireland to a reception at 10 Downing Street on Wednesday.

He said the government will keep doing all it can to get Stormont up and running again and boost business in Northern Ireland; he applauded that unemployment in the nation is now at a record low of 2.8%.

The government has announced £300m in new funding for growth deals – having already allocated £350m for the Belfast City Deal – and the recent Spending Round included more than £400m of spending in Northern Ireland.

The Prime Minister added that we remain committed to the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and stand ready to support Northern Ireland businesses as the UK prepares for Brexit on 31st October.

He said we are listening closely to the views of Northern Ireland businesses, adding he was confident we would leave the EU with a deal but the UK would be prepared whatever the circumstances.

Published 11 September 2019

Today, the new British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons presented her Credentials to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and reaffirmed the UK’s unwavering friendship and support for Ukraine.

At a ceremony in the Gorodetskyy House in Kyiv, she said:

Your Excellency,

It is a great honour for me to become the British Ambassador to Ukraine at this important time for both of our countries. Please allow me to present my credentials, and the letter of recall for my predecessor.

The United Kingdom remains Ukraine’s steadfast friend and partner on your path of reforms, as well as in your efforts to defend your sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. We look forward to welcoming you to the UK later this year to discuss Ukraine’s progress and consider how the UK can support you further in your ambitious programme for the development of Ukraine.

As the British Ambassador, I will work to develop and deepen our relationship, and I hope for a constructive dialogue on a wide range of important issues of mutual interest.

Further information:

Published 11 September 2019

Searching for natural resources is often an expensive and hazardous exercise, carried out in remote areas of the world. However, high resolution images of terrain taken by the MANTIS satellite and refined through novel data analysis will mean that prospectors can view Earth geology remotely, so reducing cost, removing risk and helping them to make better decisions.

The demonstration project is co-funded by industry and the UK Space Agency through its investment in the European Space Agency’s (ESA) InCubed Programme, which aims to support innovative projects related to Earth Observation into the commercial market.

Beth Greenaway, Head of Earth Observation for the UK Space Agency said:

Observations of the Earth from space are central to modern day life in helping us to monitor climate change, map our environment, forecast the weather and now – finding new resources.

The UK is a world leader in Earth observation technology, and we hope to maintain momentum at the forthcoming European Space Agency Council of Ministers in November, where we will be reaffirming our ESA membership.

The InCubed funding will help bring this service from concept to a Minimum Viable Product stage, providing and demonstrating the first element of a potential satellite constellation, helping overcome the initial barrier to market and supporting the growth of the UK space sector.

UK space business Open Cosmos will provide the satellite platform and lead construction of the mission, Terrabotics will provide the data analytics service and the high resolution camera will be procured from Satlantis in Spain.

Rafel Jordá Siquier, founder and CEO of Open Cosmos said

Open Cosmos is very excited to work on this next generation Earth Observation satellite. This project shows that bringing together the best specialists in their fields, in this case Open Cosmos, Satlantis and Terrabotics, leads to great technical performance improvements of Earth Observation platforms, while at the same time significantly reducing time to orbit, complexity and cost of these systems.

Investing in Industrial Innovation – InCubed – is a European Space Agency programme supporting innovative projects related to Earth Observation, with the focus of removing barriers to entry of the commercial marketplace. The UK, jointly with Spain, is a lead contributor to the programme, with the nations having contributed €10 million each to the total budget of €35 million. UK InCubed funding has been awarded through a process of competitive calls for proposals.

The MANTIS contract was signed this afternoon (11 September) at ESA’s ESRIN facility near Rome, Italy.

The UK’s investments in ESA are strengthening the UK’s national capability in space, which is fundamental to modern day life, from weather forecasting and satellite TV, to communications and monitoring climate change.

The UK will make ambitious new subscriptions to ESA programmes in November, which will strengthen capabilities further and ensure the UK plays a significant role in global efforts to return humans to the Moon, bring back the first samples from Mars and develop innovative new technologies for life on Earth.