I am excited about the prospects for 2023, the year that the UK sees its first coronation in more than 70 years.
This comes on the back the wonderful celebrations we held across New England last year for Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – followed, of course, by the passing of Her Majesty in September. 2022 will always stand out in my memory as the year that New Englanders showed such great warmth and affection for the Queen in particular and for the British Royal Family more generally.
Sticking with the Royal theme, 2023 will see the Consulate working to maintain the legacy of the Earthshot Prize, the world’s most prestigious environmental prize. Hosted here in Boston by the Prince and Princess of Wales in December 20222, it gives us a wonderful platform to continue our work in New England to help identify and support innovative ways to tackle climate change, including through the offshore wind, alternative energy, climate tech and climate finance sectors.
In other sectors, we are also excited that Boston is once again hosting BIO, the world’s preeminent biotech and pharmaceutical conference, and the UK will be bringing a large, senior delegation to ensure that our presence there is as strong as possible.This summer, Boston will also host the Quantum Tech Congress again, and we are looking to reprise our success in bringing British quantum companies to pitch to Boston-based investors.
Finally, this coming year will also see the Consulate launch a second series of “pop-up” Consulates, whereby we take the full suite of diplomatic activity on the road to states across New England. Each one will feature discussions with senior political leaders, meetings with leading academic and research leaders and, of course, a strong programme of trade and investment calls. This time, with all Covid restrictions behind us, we will be hosting receptions in each state, so please look out for an invitation in due course!
I look forward to collaborating with existing BABCNE members – and prospective ones too! – on all of this and more throughout the course of 2023.
His Majesty’s Consul General to New England
Dr. Peter Abbott