UK highlights – clean energy, green growth and climate science
London is set to host the Clean Energy Ministerial amid debate in UK politics over the direction of green policy and the cost of environmental measures to families and businesses. The Coalition Government has made announcements on fracking, investment in climate science, the green deal and EU emissions targets, and MPs have called on the government for greater clarity on the “outsourcing” of carbon emissions abroad.
UK news – science & innovation
In his Autumn Forecast Statement, delivered November 29, Chancellor George Osborne pledged an additional £200 million for science infrastructure and heralded the Government’s Innovation and Research Strategy and Life Science Strategy which have since been published. This week, University and Science Minister, David Willetts, is visiting the U.S. to strengthen UK-U.S. links on education, science and research.
FCO and BIS Release their Science and Innovation Network Report: April 2010 to March 2011
On September 29, FCO and BIS co-hosted a lunchtime briefing for science attaches on the release of the new FCO/BIS “Science and Innovation Report: April 2010 to March 2011.” Speakers included FCO Science Advisor Dr. David Clary, BIS Director General for Science Dr. Adrian Smith, and Hugh Philpott, Head of the Science and Innovation Network (SIN). The presentation provided a very helpful overview of the work of the SIN Network in the 25 countries and territories in which it operates. In the U.S., they include officers at the UK Embassy in Washington D.C. and at UK Consulate-Generals in Boston, Houston, Atlanta, San Francisco and Los Angeles. For more details on specific collaborative activities, see the report itself. Also, very helpfully, the report includes at the end of the document the contact information for all SIN officers around the world.