The government’s National Space Strategy, which was unveiled in September, set out an ambition for the UK to be a leader on using space for climate action. Now, the UK Space Agency will work with the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) on a new review of existing activity on climate action through the use of space technologies.

The aim is to develop a strategic view of climate activities being carried out in space on a scale that has never been done before and, through this, increase policy coherence across the multilateral system and relevant international organisations.

The review, which is due to start in December, is intended to provide a detailed overview of space-based climate activities undertaken by both UN and non-UN entities and raise awareness of those opportunities at hand to support actions while fostering collaboration.

Dr Paul Bate, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, said:

The UK is leading the way in using satellites to monitor and tackle climate change and we are building trusted relationships between the UK space sector and international partners.

We’ve seen throughout COP26 how satellites are being used to measure carbon emissions, monitor deforestation and improve climate models that inform international action. This new project with UNOOSA will map this existing work and investigate what more can be done to strengthen the space sector’s contribution to tackling our planet’s biggest global challenge.

Simonetta Di Pippo, Director, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, said:

Space activities have transformed the way humanity perceives and understands planet Earth, rendering them vital for climate science and action. We need to maximize the ambition in utilizing space benefits for a better tomorrow.

At UNOOSA, we are fully committed to reinforcing both direct and indirect contributions of the space sector to a net-zero future. With this initiative proposed by the UK Space Agency, we take our joint commitment to another level. By consolidating and mapping the existing climate activities, we will be much better equipped to move forward in coordinating international efforts and stimulating climate actions.

The announcement was made at the ‘In Space We Trust’ event at COP26 (Wednesday 10th November) which explored how space data and technology empowers climate action.

Hosted by Space4Climate in partnership with the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, the event, on the Knowledge Transfer Network Space & Geospatial Virtual Pavilion for COP26, gave a gave a platform to speakers from indigenous groups and countries as widespread as Vietnam to Colombia to Cabo Verde. It showcased existing partnerships using space for climate action and climate data capacity building, in collaboration with developing economies.

Davis Adieno, Director of Programs at the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, who hosted the event, said:

Without a doubt the world is at a crossroads. The ravaging impacts of climate change have been laid bare for all of us to see wherever we are. But as we agitate for change, we must recognize the steep road towards change is not easy but is scalable. We have a great opportunity to act now and act at an unprecedented scale through international collaboration to accelerate progress in delivering world climate summit ambitions.

The UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme (IPP) is a £150 million space for sustainable development initiative which uses the UK space sector’s capabilities in satellite technology and data services to deliver measurable and sustainable economic, societal or environmental benefits in partnership with developing countries.  

Since 2016, IPP has grant-funded 43 projects in 47 countries across Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and Caribbean to develop space-based solutions which tackle global development challenges such as climate and disaster resilience, food security, maritime issues, disease forecasting, and improving access to financial services. The majority of IPP projects support climate action.

Organisations represented at the online event in the Space and Geospatial Virtual Pavilion included the United Nations, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, Mercy Corps (Kyrgyzstan), Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, Columbia University, National Forestry Commission (Ghana), the Maasai-led Community Outreach and Development Services NGO, Royal Meteorological Society, Association of Banana Growers of Magdalena and La Guajira (Colombia), Centre for Nomadic Pastoralism Studies (Mongolia), UNELCO ENGIE (Vanuatu), JBA Consulting, Community Research and Development Services Limited, and the University of Leeds.

Minister for International Trade, Ranil Jayawardena, M.P., met with Uruguay’s Foreign Minister, Ambassador Francisco Bustillo, on 15th September 2021 during his official three-day visit to Uruguay to confirm both countries’ desire to continue strengthening their bilateral trading relationship.

Following the meeting, Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner (HMTC) to Latin America and the Caribbean, Jonathan Knott, met with Uruguay’s Director-General of International Economic Affairs to agree next steps for further deepening these ties.

Both shared their satisfaction with the excellent state of the bilateral relationship and reaffirmed their wish to strengthen bilateral ties to benefit each countries’ citizens. They recognised the historically close trade relations between Uruguay and the United Kingdom, and their shared interest in facilitating an increase in trade and investment flows, for mutual benefit.

Both parties demonstrated their commitment to strengthening trade cooperation between the two countries by formally agreeing to establish the United Kingdom-Uruguay Trade Dialogue, as a permanent bilateral forum between Her Britannia Majesty’s Government and the Government of Uruguay to promote and increase bilateral trade and investment.

The Trade Dialogue is designed to facilitate the exchange of information and promote bilateral debates on ways for both countries to:

• promote trade and investment as a means to achieve economic growth, working together to strengthen export flows for high-performing sectors and goods and to attract reciprocal investment;
• maintain a favourable environment for agile, secure and transparent circulation of goods and service provision, addressing issues relating to market access, trade facilitation, and information on logistics and customs procedures;
• identify new opportunities to develop bilateral economic relations, with a view to identifying specific sectors and goods judged to have commercial potential;
• share good practice, promote transparency and the exchange of knowledge, and provide assistance in key areas;
• improve competitiveness by means of innovation, an entrepreneurial spirit and sustainability;
• exchange information on projects supporting sustainable development;
• promote, in line with the existing legislation of each country and through the adoption of suitable measures, the future development of mutually beneficial co-operation;
• propose recommendations to eliminate obstacles arising from the execution of any projects undertaken under this Trade Dialogue; and
• promote collaboration and partnerships between businesses.

The Senior Responsible Officers for the Trade Dialogue will be the Director-General for International Economic Affairs in Uruguay’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and the Director of Bilateral Trade Relations in the United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade with attendance at meetings delegated as appropriate.

It will meet at least once a year, alternately in Uruguay and the United Kingdom, on dates decided by both parties, as well as virtually where necessary.

The Director-General and HMTC agreed to work together to tackle global challenges, including the COVID 19 pandemic recovery and climate change, highlighting the importance of free trade and free enterprise for building back better.

Thank you very much Matthew and thanks for inviting me and thank you for everything that you do. You might be able to tell from the background that I’m joining you from Glasgow, from COP26 where there was also a very important health announcement yesterday – I’m sure none of you missed it.

But let me just start my remarks by just saying that we have all got such affection for the NHS because, ultimately, it’s about all of us.

It’s a truly national health service for NHS patients and NHS colleagues – including leaders like you – because we are all two sides of the same coin. We’re all cast together by the values that underpin the NHS. That we all share a responsibility for the health of each other. I think that’s never been truer than the past couple of years. We all have another difficult winter ahead. But we face it in a stronger position because of the leadership of everyone in this virtual room.

The way you’ve performed through the pandemic has undoubtedly saved countless lives. You can be very proud of what you have all achieved and I’m certainly proud of you. While we’re all still navigating the difficult days ahead, we must also look to the vital work beyond the pandemic. In many ways, Amanda and I, who you have just heard from earlier, are the new kids on the block. I took up my post in June, and Amanda in August. But of course, we’re not that new!

This is the sixth department I’ve led – and Amanda’s distinguished NHS career spans three decades. But we do have new ideas for what is unquestionably a new era. My priorities which I have talked about a lot in this job are Covid, recovery and reform. Covid – getting us, and keeping us, out of the pandemic. Recovery – tackling the huge backlog of appointments it has caused. And reform of our health and social care systems for the long-term. Three words, covid, recovery and reform. But a tremendous amount for us to do. So I’m really grateful for this first opportunity to address you: the leaders of our Integrated Care Systems.

There are two big reasons why we’re at an inflection point for our ICSs. The first, because this is a new era for ICS leaders after the Bill. And second, because the pandemic has made sure that health and care in this country will not — and cannot — ever be the same again. But I believe it can be better – and it can be more integrated.

But to achieve that, we must learn from the pandemic. What went wrong? Of course. But equally important is what went right. For a start, we’ve never been more integrated. The way, for example, we’ve worked across traditional barriers to vaccinate the country against Covid-19. The way that we’ve got data pumping through the arteries of our healthcare system. And the way we’ve simplified so many staff processes – from registering overseas doctors to streamlining appraisals.

For our NHS leaders, the pandemic has been like sending elite air force pilots into space. Your knowledge, discipline and experience have helped you thrive in extreme new circumstances. It’s proof – if proof were still needed – that integration must continue to be our watchword and Integrated Care Systems are the right way forward. Because joint working has always been our greatest weapon against this virus. We’ve been pulled ever-closer together by a shared enemy. Now we must stay together, to combat other challenges: like health disparities.

Passing the peak of the pandemic has been like a receding tide, revealing the underlying health of our nation. We can see that the health disparities in our society — whether regional, racial or socioeconomic disparities — have only deepened. Men in England’s most deprived areas can expect to live nearly ten years less than those in the least. Black women are five times more likely to die from complications during childbirth than white women. Black, Asian, and minority ethnic groups make up less than a seventh of our population but they represented a third of the critical care admissions from Covid.

It’s time to level up on health. That’s going to take partnership. And it’s going to take a new kind of leadership – from me and from all of you. After all, the NHS didn’t become the institution we all love today by standing still. Nearly 40 years ago, when Roy Griffiths reported to Mrs Thatcher on NHS Management, he famously said, and I quote:

“If Florence Nightingale were carrying her lamp through the corridors of the NHS today she would almost certainly be searching for the people in charge”.

Well, if Florence Nightingale carried her lamp through the Nightingale Hospitals, ICUs and A&Es last winter she would have found the people in charge and she would have found an NHS management that is innovative, integrated and open. And the Leadership Review, led by General Sir Gordon Messenger and Dame Linda Pollard is about taking the very best of what you’re doing and doing even more of it and turning it onto those great challenges of the future.

Because the future of health in this country is not just about people like me in Whitehall but about people like you – working in partnership with everyone who can make a difference. We’re not just giving you the investment to reform, we’re also giving you the freedom to innovate so that ICSs can take on an ever-greater role as hubs of innovation and show the way forward for other parts of the country.

I am determined to do all that I can to help you achieve this. To be innovative, to be even more integrated and have an even more open future. We put in historic levels of funding at the spending review. In fact – on capital expenditure – I think I am right in saying that we put in a £1 billion more than even the NHS Confederation asked for! It does help, of course, if you know a few of the tricks of the Treasury. We’re also laying legislative building blocks. Like the Health and Care Bill, which provides the architecture for our statutory ICSs.

And soon, I’ll be bringing forward a White Paper on Integration, with our proposals for how health and care can work better as one. It will see us embrace new ways of sharing records and delivering digital services together, for example. It will also see us embrace new approaches to the workforce. Not only helping staff move from sector to sector but also to promote more joint roles across health and social care. Aside from the structures, we want, quite simply, more people working across health and social care and we’re bringing in even more talented colleagues to join you.

Since last August, we’ve recruited almost 5,500 more doctors, almost 10,000 more nurses and there are almost 39,400 more staff in hospital and community health services in total. More colleagues who – under your leadership – can embody not only the kindness, compassion and resilience that sets the NHS apart but your spirit of innovation, integration and openness too.

But to lead this change, we’re going to have to make a big psychological leap. We have to step out of our shoes and experience health and care through the eyes of the people we serve. If you’re recovering from a serious operation, you don’t care which structures sit where. You only care about the quality of care you are going to receive. My objective, above all others, is to stop people bouncing around the system. It sounds simple – but I know it’s hard. If it were easy, we’d have already done it.

But with this shift in perspective – and a shift in professional culture too – I think we can achieve it by thinking as one, planning as one, and working as one – across our ICSs. The Prime Minister and I have high expectations but given everything we’ve achieved already, I have every confidence we’ll get there. But in addition to all of this, there’s one more ingredient that’s so important to me: and that is respect.

I’ve been appalled to hear of incidences of violence and abuse in the NHS.

Let me say this: I am going to have a zero-tolerance approach. Everyone in the NHS deserves to work with respect and dignity. They have a right to expect a workplace free from violence and abuse. And I’ll keep working with leaders like you to promote those positive cultures we need to see.

Some of you may know that when I was Home Secretary, I made protecting staff in emergency services a priority and I’m determined to do the same in the NHS. And to help us realise this, I want us to have an NHS Covenant – just like we have for the Armed Forces and the Police. It can bring together so much of the work we’re already doing from the People Promise, to action against violence and abuse. I want to consult widely on it. Both across the NHS and the general public to get it right, so we have a Covenant that makes a lasting difference to people’s lives.

Covenants are a promise. They’re a mark of respect to those who’ve served. And they are a thank you from a grateful nation. And it only remains for me to add my own thanks. Thank you for everything you’ve done throughout this pandemic. I want to thank you for your leadership. And I want to thank you for everything that you are planning to do in the future. Together, I know this new era will be one of the most consequential in the NHS’s proud history.

Let’s make it count. Thank you very much.