Queen’s Birthday Party 2013: A royal, green celebration
On April 24, the British Embassy Tokyo hosted a special event to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s 87th birthday.
Inspired by the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, which were designed to provide a lasting legacy with the Olympic Park this year becoming Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, this year’s Queen’s Birthday Party took on a theme of ‘Green is GREAT’ to showcase UK excellence in sustainability and low carbon growth.
‘Green is GREAT’ is part of a wider three year campaign by the British government is running which invites the world to take a fresh look at everything Britain has to offer, focusing on areas of British excellence: Technology and Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Creativity, Knowledge, Green, Heritage, Sport, Shopping, Music and Countryside.
On display at the event was a photo exhibition of the London Olympic Park; an interactive ‘2050 Pathways Calculator’ which allows you to create a low carbon vision of the world in 2050; an imaginative climate change-themed manga web-cartoon; and a preview of the British film ‘Thin Ice’, which takes an intimate look at efforts by scientists to understand our planet’s changing climate.
We are grateful for the valuable co-operation we have with Japanese colleagues in tackling climate change. If the world is going to succeed in limiting global warming to less than 2C, countries like the UK and Japan need to continue working together to demonstrate strong political commitment to tackling it,” said Mr Tim Hitchens, British Ambassador to Japan.
Hard work and dedication make anything possible. Her Majesty embodies those values - which both our countries share.
Meanwhile, guests were encouraged to join in the discussion by sending their tweets to a live Twitter wall, using the Twitter hashtag #GreenisGREAT. A wide selection of British food and refreshments were also served, courtesy of notable British food and drink businesses operating in Japan.
Watch a short ‘Green is GREAT’ film with highlights from the day’s celebrations, displays and comments from guests.