British Ambassador Touring Alaska

The British Ambassador is visiting Alaska.  Sir Nigel Sheinwald plans to go to Sitka today and to Prudhoe Bay later this week.  Monday, the Ambassador was taken on a tour of the Pebble mining area, by Anglo American, and also met with United Fishermen of Alaska to discuss the proposed mine.

As he indicated in an op-ed piece sent to the Anchorage Daily News, Sheinwald said the UK expects its companies to meet the highest environmental standards.

“There’s a huge amount of economic interdependence between us. But of course we want those companies to be responsible citizens. Whether they’re in the energy sector; whether they’re in the resources sector; whether they’re in the financial sector – it doesn’t matter, we expect them to have high standards. And it isn’t a case of either or, this has just got to be the way we operate in the 21st century,” Sheinwald said.

Sheinwald said he was pleased to see the U.S. stepping up its interest in the Arctic and climate change.

Audio Click the player above for the full interview with Ambassador Sheinwald (MP3)

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