Following the terrorist attack that hit Tripoli on the eve of Eid el Fitr, a delegation of EU Ambassadors with Ambassador Rampling paid condolences to the Mayor of Tripoli, Ahmad Qamareddine and expressed their solidarity with Lebanon and its armed forces, who work tirelessly to maintain security and protect civilians across Lebanon.

At Rachid Karameh Exhibition Center, the Head of the EU delegation Ambassador Christina Lassen and German Ambassador Georg Birgelen, joined by Ambassador Rampling and other EU heads of mission, attended the inauguration of the EU-funded GIZ ‘North Lebanon’ project. The project aims to support young people and women by supporting start-up programmes for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and business development services. It also includes infrastructural support for an improved urban environment.

At the Attarin Souk, British Ambassador Chris Rampling and German Ambassador Georg Birgelen jointly celebrated the completion of the souks rehabilitation project as part of the Lebanon Host Communities Support Programme (LHSP) with the Minister of Social Affairs, Richard Kouyoumjian, and Minister of Interior, Raya El Hasan, Governor of the North, Mr. Ramzi Nohra and Mayor of Tripoli, Mr. Ahmad Kamareddine. The project focused on the rehabilitation of a 300-metre long portion of the Attarin Souk which includes around 60 vegetable, meat, poultry, and grocery shops. The street serves over 80,000 beneficiaries who benefited from the restoration of the roof water drainage system and the rehabilitation of the shops and facades. Since 2014, UK support to LHSP has reached so far over £48 million and German support of around €48 Million.

During his Tripoli tour, Ambassador Rampling visited the Tripoli Oil Installations and was briefed by the Director General Mr. Sarkis Hleis on the role and economic value of this facility in North Lebanon and the region.

Ambassador Rampling also met with former Minister Mohammad Safadi and toured the Safadi foundation and later took part in a round table discussion with civil society organised by MP Mosbah el Ahdab.

On the anniversary of HMS Victoria’s commemoration that sank off the coast of Tripoli on 22 June 1893, a remembrance service was held at the Commonwealth War Grave with dignitaries and Lebanese army officials .

At the end of his visit, Ambassador Rampling said:

Today, with my EU colleagues, we sent a strong message of support and solidarity with Tripoli and the Lebanese people. We stand together united in the face of terrorism and united in our efforts to preserve Lebanon’s stability. This was our message to the mayor and senior officials of Tripoli. From grief to hope, my joint visit with my EU colleagues and German Ambassador today – following the unfortunate attack – is part of our commitment to a stronger relationship and partnership with Lebanon and Tripoli. It gave me great pleasure to be back to Tripoli to inaugurate a UK funded project in Partnership with the Lebanese Government, notably the Ministry of Social Affairs, UNDP, local authorities and communities.

This is my second visit to the Souks when I saw first-hand the ongoing works and now I am glad to see the rehabilitation project of the Attarin souks, completed. We hope this project will improve the lives of shop keepers, shoppers and the entire community.

The director of a waste haulage company and a landowner have been ordered to pay £6,435 for illegally depositing thousands of tonnes of waste on farmland near Tiverton.

In 2016 CB Plant Hire was contacted by a third party to use land off the A361 for the disposal of waste. The site, near Redhills Farm, Uplowman, is owned by Stephen Dibble of Bycott Farm, Halberton.

Following complaints, an Environment Agency officer visited the site and found waste being deposited on a large scale. Dibble had already partially filled a valley with waste. There was every indication he intended to continue depositing waste.

Dibble confirmed he was using the waste imported by CB Plant Hire to return land formerly known as Tiverton Motocross back to agricultural use.

A waste exemption allows landowners to reuse up to 1,000 tonnes of soil and subsoil for specific purposes. But it was revealed Dibble had accepted over 23,500 tonnes of waste at Tiverton Motocross and lacked planning permission from Devon County Council.

Dibble said his farm business had been struggling financially and that he didn’t feel he’d done anything wrong, as he had been relying on advice from third parties.

Marie Sinead Berry, a director of CB Plant Hire, whose company transported the waste to the Tiverton Motorcross site, admitted she had failed to carry out her normal duty of care checks and had ‘taken her eye off the ball’.

Richard Tugwell of the Environment Agency said:

It is essential haulage contractors and landowners are fully aware of their responsibilities when using waste and take action to ensure they stay within the terms of a waste exemption.

This was a sustained abuse of an exemption for financial gain. Importing more than 23 times the maximum amount of waste to this site changed the appearance of the landscape.

Appearing before Exeter magistrates, Marie Sinead Berry, of Moorhayes Farm, Uffculme, Cullompton, was fined £120 and ordered to pay £3,500 costs after pleading guilty to between 16 May 2016 and 7 September 2016 operating an unauthorised waste disposal facility on land previously known as Tiverton Motorcross, Sampford Peverell, Tiverton, contrary to regulations 12 (1) and 38(1)(a) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

Stephen Dibble, of Bycott Farm, Halberton was fined £265 and ordered to pay £2,490 costs after pleading guilty to the same offence.

Both defendants were also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £30 each. Berry referred to herself in court by her maiden name, Ms Sinead Gallagher. The case was heard on 7 June 2019.

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, has teamed up with energy and services firm ENGIE to support projects working on the transition to clean energy.

The £4 million competition will fund innovative projects that decarbonise, digitise and decentralise (find ways to generate power off the main grid) energy, and help achieve a sustainable transition to cleaner energy.

Successful projects will receive a combination of government grants from Innovate UK, and private investment from ENGIE. For the first time in an Innovate UK programme, the private funding will be from overseas.

The competition aims to allow organisations to form investment partnerships at an early stage. To do this, ENGIE and Innovate UK are bringing together:

• Innovate UK’s expertise in identifying promising innovations and using funding to materially change their risk profile
• ENGIE’s expertise in identifying commercial and customer focused opportunities that are most likely to grow and make the best use of extra investment finance

Best of British ideas

Ian Meikle, Director, Clean Growth and Infrastructure at Innovate UK, said:

We are seeking the very best of British ideas in clean growth innovation. By teaming up with ENGIE we can multiply our funding and do even more to grow the industries, businesses and jobs of tomorrow by bringing in the private sector at an earlier stage through this investment accelerator programme.

Nicola Lovett, CEO of ENGIE UK & Ireland, added:

We are delighted to be working with both Innovate UK and ENGIE’s Paris-based New Ventures team to directly assist innovative UK companies in the clean growth sector – in areas such as renewables, energy services and e-mobility. This initiative also supports our own ambition to be a leader in making zero-carbon transition possible for businesses and local authorities.

Competition information

The Clean Growth Innovation Fund is an invitation-only programme for UK businesses to apply for a share of up to £4 million for innovative projects. Successful applicants will receive a combination of grant and investment to cover project costs.

• the first round of this competition opens Monday 10 June 2019
• the first round closes 12:00 on Wednesday 14 August 2019
• this competition is offering grant funding
• to lead a project, you must be a UK-based small or medium-sized business
• total eligible project costs must be between £100,000 and £1.2 million. We may consider funding 1 project over the life of the programme of £1.5 million

About ENGIE

ENGIE is a leading energy and services company focused on 3 key activities: production and supply of energy, services and regeneration. Its 17,000 employees combine these capabilities for the benefit of individuals, businesses and communities throughout the UK & Ireland.

ENGIE enables customers to embrace a lower carbon, more efficient and increasingly digital world. Its customers benefit from energy efficient and smart building solutions, the provision of effective and innovative services, the transformation of neighbourhoods through regeneration projects, and the supply of reliable, flexible and renewable energy.

ENGIE improves lives through better living and working environments, helping to balance performance with responsibility, enabling progress in a harmonious way.

Globally, the ENGIE Group employs 160,000 people worldwide and achieved revenues of €60.6 billion in 2018.

About ENGIE New Ventures

ENGIE New Ventures (ENV) is the corporate venture arm of ENGIE. ENGIE is committed to leading the energy revolution, moving towards a more decarbonised, decentralised and digitised world.

ENV is a €170 million fund focused on taking minority stakes in high-performing startups. ENV has deployed €75 million of capital across 21 investments. Portfolio companies include: FTS Connected Energy, Kiwi Power, Advanced Microgrid Solutions, Gogoro, Heliatek, StreetLight Data, Sigfox, and HomeBiogas. Offices are located in Paris, San Francisco, Singapore and Tel-Aviv.

About Innovate UK

Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation, a non-departmental public body funded by a grant-in-aid from the UK government. For more information, visit the UK Research and Innovation website.

We drive productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas, including those from the UK’s world-class research base.

Further information

For further information about the competition, please contact in the first instance:

Ben Watts, ENGIE Innovation & Solutions Director ben.watts@engie.com Mobile: +44 (0)7970 137202

Christian Inglis, Innovate UK Senior Innovation Lead – Growth and Scale Clean Growth and Infrastructure christian.inglis@innovateuk.ukri.org Mobile: +44 (0)7824599792 t:@chringlis

[unable to retrieve full-text content]L`ambassadeur Britanniques à Madagascar Dr Phil Boyle a fait un discours spécifique dans le cadre de la célébration du 93ième anniversaire de La Reine ainsi que pour mettre en évidence les apports du Royaume Uni pour conserver l`environnement de Madagascar.