Geopolitics and Security

Keeping the world within critical environmental limits requires unprecedented global cooperation. The welcome development of major countries like China and India is driving both geopolitical realignment and pressure on environmental limits. Conversely, climate change is one of the few areas of major power cooperation. Climate and environmental issues need to be fully integrated into broad foreign policy decisions and practice to preserve peace and security.

Nick Mabey was an independent advisor to UK Foreign Minister Robin Cook on environmental foreign policy in the early 1990’s; helping shape the UK’s agenda on international governance. He worked extensively on global economic governance issues at WWF including the doomed OECD MAI negotiations and was the EU delegation civil society observer to the Seattle World Trade Organisation talks.

From the UK Foreign Ministry he advised the Prime Minster on strenghtened environmental governance & was lead UK negotiator in the UN environmental governance negotiations in 2001. With his E3G co-founders he developed broader thinking on foreign policy which would shape UK policy in areas such as as multi-stakeholder diplomatic partnerships; Nick initiated several new partnerships from the FCO including REEEP and the Travel Foundation.

Working in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit he led an audit of the UK’s international priorities and was team leader on the resulting cross-government projects on Countries at Risk of Instability and Organised Crime which resulted in major reforms.

Nick Mabey has continued to work on broad foreign policy issues outside government, including as co-Chair of the EWI Task Force on Preventative Diplomacy and writing on UK, EU and global foreign policy priorities and reforms in a changing world. Nick has worked extensively to support the emergence of a strong EU foreign policy and joint diplomatic capability.

Nick has a strong focus on shaping the increasingly fraught geopolitical dynamics between the EU, US and China; particularly leading informal EU-China diplomacy processes supporting stronger understanding of the potential for risks and collaboration on climate, energy, trade, investment & financial issues. He continues to advise governments on geopolitcal & foreign policy issues and is a regular mediia commentator on climate and geopolitics.