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With a general election imminent, it is already clear that the next UK government will take office in an immensely challenging environment for foreign policy.
From wars in Gaza and Ukraine to concerns about climate change, China’s assertive global agenda and the durability of America’s commitment to European security, the next UK government will face many pressing international problems and have limited resources with which to tackle them. This paper examines how the next government – regardless of which party wins the election – could use its foreign policy assets to best effect in the context of fiscal and other capacity pressures.
‘Realistic ambition’ should be the guiding principle, with the UK recognizing its limits and constraints but remaining actively engaged and agile in its foreign policy. The paper outlines, in particular, three long-term priorities for foreign policy: navigating unpredictable great power dynamics that are complicated by rising Sino-US tensions; improving the UK’s relations with the EU, in part to offset the risk of reduced US engagement in Europe, and in part to fill post-Brexit policy gaps; and reinvigorating the UK’s role in global governance and international development, an area of historical strength.
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.