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Day: 4 June 2017

Prince welcomes ocean pioneer at Yacht Club

by: Cassandra Tanti
04/06/2017
Photo: Eric Mathon/Palais-Princier
Photo: Eric Mathon/Palais-Princier

HSH Prince Albert welcomed ocean explorer Yvan Griboval, who arrived alone in the OceanoScientific Explorer 16-metre “Boogaloo” at the pontoon of honour of the Monaco Yacht Club (YCM) early on Friday, June 2.

Mr Griboval had been sailing for 150 days, avoiding pollution of the sea, and successfully carried out the first ever collection of oceanographic data in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current under the three Great Capes: Good Hope (South Africa), Leeuwin (Australia) and Horn (Chile), with sixty days of solo navigation in the Roaring Forties and the Shrieking Fifties.

In closing his scientific mission on April 2, Mr Griboval said: “It is a great pride to have succeeded in this oceanographic sailing campaign, without polluting the sea, to observe virtually unexplored maritime areas. This is the fruit of ten years of work, notably to develop the OSC System, the unique equipment for the automatic collection and transmission of scientific data. Beyond the oceanographic mission and the sporting challenge of a world tour by sailing solo on a small performance yacht, I consider it essential to observe and testify, to mobilise the widest public in favour of the necessary preservation of the ocean.”

This so far unavailable research is intended for the international scientific community studying the causes and consequences of climate change, via the French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea (lfremer), Météo-France and the Laboratoire d’Oceanography and Climate: Experiments and Numerical Approaches (LOCEAN) of the Pierre et Marie Curie University (UPMC-CNRS).

Yvan Griboval left the YCM on November 17, entrusting his moorings to the Sovereign, with a determination to return as maritime tradition demands. He stopped in Cartagena, Spain, then Cape Town, South Africa, to optimise his scientific equipment for oceanographic data collection and to calibrate the sensors just before entering the Forties.

He then stopped in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after sailing nine days without his autopilots, in order to put them back in service before confronting the last part of the course; and not the least complex: the bypass of the Azores High and the delicate ascent of the Mediterranean, from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Principality of Monaco.

This expedition, organised by the philanthropic association OceanoScientific has been supported and supervised by Ifremer, Météo-France and CNRS, was sponsored by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) with the assistance of JCOMMOPS and Mercator Ocean.

It has been supported by the Yacht Club of Monaco, by the Oceanographic Institute, Albert 1er Foundation, by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, and by the Scientific Centre of Monaco.

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Kabul attack a blow to Monaco Telecom

by: Cassandra Tanti
04/06/2017

roshanLast week’s terror attack in the Afghan capital left 90 dead and more than 400 injured, and caused considerable damage to Kabul’s infrastructure.

While the target of the attack claimed by ISIS may have been the German Embassy, the local affiliate of Monaco Telecom – Roshan – suffered severe damage. The company has estimated that a third of the victims of the outrage were employees of the company, whose HQ in the country is directly opposite the Ambassador’s residence.

Monaco Telecom owns a 36.37 percent operating stake in the mobile operator, which describes itself as a true Afghanistan success story.

“Since its inception in 2003, Roshan has invested approximately $700 million (€620 million) in Afghanistan and is the country’s single largest private investor and taxpayer, contributing approximately five percent of the Afghan government’s overall domestic revenue. Roshan directly employs more than 900 people, 20 percent of whom are women, and provides indirect employment to more than 35,000 people,” the company says.

The majority shareholder in Roshan is the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, with 51 percent of the company. With Telia owning 12.25 percent, Monaco Telecom is the chief technological partner of the company.

Monaco Telecom has major stakes in telecoms operators in Kosovo and Mali. French businessman Xavier Niel acquired Monaco Telecom in 2014.

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IUM’s International Scientific Council meets

by: Cassandra Tanti
04/06/2017

Diner CS+IAB

The International University of Monaco convened its newly created Scientific Council on Tuesday, May 30. This body complements the governance structure of the institution, which had already established its International Advisory Board (IAB) on issues of strategy, growth, attractiveness, positioning and development.

The IAB is chaired by a Monegasque, Professor Pierre-André Chiappori, a world-renowned Professor of Economics. The Scientific Council, chaired by Professor Michel Pham, Professor at the Business School of Columbia University in New York, is dedicated to advising IUM on issues related to its research and to the steering of its faculty, its professors and its publishing activities. The Board also looks at matters related to the development of expertise in training activities or that may prove useful to companies, especially those in the Monaco area.

One of the themes addressed was the development of the attractiveness of the IUM for young international research faculty and the creation of research chairs financed by companies and working in various sectors of the Principality.

Also on the agenda is the preparation of the third edition of the scientific symposium devoted to the management and marketing of luxury, to be held in Monaco in April 2018 and organised by the IUM with the support of the entire INSEEC group.

All the members of the two committees ended the day with a dinner at the restaurant Le Castelroc in Monaco Ville.

 

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NMNM’s double exhibition at the Villa Sauber

by: Cassandra Tanti
04/06/2017
Photo: Manuel Vitali/Direction de la Communication
Photo: Manuel Vitali/Direction de la Communication

Two new exhibitions at Nouveau Musée National de Monaco’s Villa Sauber continue a reflection on archives and relationships to the past with two artists – Saadane Afif (on the ground floor) and Kasper Akhøj (on the first floor) – who have each been working for ten years on a theme of their own.

Since 2009, Kasper Akhøj has been documenting the restoration work of Villa E-1027, built in 1929 by architect Eileen Gray in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. Like a remake of the original photographs of Eileen Gray, Kasper Akhøj presents 59 photographs respecting the framing chosen by the architect and constituting a journey through the villa’s various strata of history.

These views of the villa, captured some 80 years after those of Eileen Gray, testify to the many changes in the house, which was conceived as a model of architecture, design and lifestyle.

This work by Kasper Akhøj raises many questions in the conservation and restoration of a site of great historical interest that was repeatedly vandalised over the years. Over the photographs, whose hanging voluntarily blurs the chronology, visitors walk through the thick of time.

Saâdane Afif explores the relationship we have with art, including the inclusion of specific works in society: the famous sculpture Fountain by Marcel Duchamp (an overturned urinal), presented in April 1917 to the Society of Independent Artists in New York, is the starting point of his latest work.

Collecting the works in which the Fontain appears, Saâdane Afif snatches the pages reproducing a photograph of this work to frame them – referred to as the “active” part of the exhibition. The “amputee” works – known as the “passive” part – on this page are then exhibited in sculpture libraries. The end of the exhibition presents the articles devoted to the artist’s work, constituting an “archive in the archive”.

Saâdane Afif-The Fountain Archives 2008-2017, an exhibition jointly produced with the Georges Pompidou Centre, runs until October 15, 2017. Kasper Akhøj, Welcome (To The Teknival) end January 8, 2018. 

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Prince Albert on Trump’s climate decision: “A historical error, seriously undermines America’s global leadership”

by: Cassandra Tanti
04/06/2017

Prince Albert’s welcome speech at the second edition of the Energy Security Forum, held at the Monaco Yacht Club Friday morning, did not miss the opportunity to address US President Donald Trump’s decision yesterday to pull out of Paris Climate Accord.

Addressing forum attendees, which included Volodymyr Kistion, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Alexander Kwasniewski, President of Poland, Danilo Türk, President of Slovenia, and three time Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, Prince Albert commented: “I cannot conclude my remarks this morning by ignoring the decision announced last night by the administration that is particularly close to my heart.

“On climate, the US administration, in my view, not only is making a historical error, which will notably be accountable for future generations, but also seriously undermines America’s global leadership and its opportunities for economic development that can only be based on technological innovation and the development of a non-carbonated economy.”

Read Prince Albert’s official declaration here.

Prince Albert with Danilo Türk, President of Slovenia, Alexander Kwasniewski, President of Poland, Volodymyr Kistion, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, and three time Prime Minister of Belgium and Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Energy.
Prince Albert with Danilo Türk, President of Slovenia, Alexander Kwasniewski, President of Poland, Volodymyr Kistion, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, and three time Prime Minister of Belgium and Andris Piebalgs,
European Commissioner for Energy.

The one-day “Energy Security for the Future” forum, organised by Burisma and Adam Smith Conferences, and with the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, focused on what the Prince referred to as the “particularly sensitive subject” of energy security and “how it must be tackled on a global scale”.

Prince Albert began his welcome speech by stating, “Today we are at a crossroads. The energy model that our society has adopted over many decades has clearly revealed its numerous shortcomings.

“These failures include the unequal distribution of resources, which creates dramatic inequalities between regions, countries and individuals. They include the scarcity of these very resources, the scarcity that we now know is increasing and one that creates major strategic tensions.

“Finally, they include energy-related environmental impacts, the serious effects of which we are imposing on future generations, effects such as the destruction of eco-systems, climate change and pollution.”

His Serene Highness emphasised the need for a global strategic vision, particularly in terms of security and long-term consequences, and said his message this morning was about “the commitment necessary to move towards a low-carbon economy and to focus on the need for each and every one of us to explore the mechanisms and consequences in order to promote this implementation.”

Commenting on the consequences of a fuel-based energy model, the Prince said it’s “jeopardising the future and causing conflicts between those who, thanks to their geography, possess a source of energy and those who do not, conflicts between those who are able to access energy and those who can not and, finally, conflict between those who are consuming energy today and those who face its consequences tomorrow.”

Prince Albert: “On climate, the US administration, in my view, not only is making a historical error, which will notably be accountable for for future generations but also seriously undermines America's global leadership and its opportunities for economic development."
Prince Albert: “On climate, the US administration, in my view, not only is making a historical error, which will notably be accountable for for future generations but also seriously undermines America’s global leadership and its opportunities for economic development.”

He pointed out that as the effects of hydrocarbons on the environment prove to be increasingly serious and generate extreme tensions, “These tensions will only get worse as resources become increasingly scarce. It is therefore our duty to abandon our current energy model and construct a new one before it’s too late.”

Adding that “designing a new model today means moving away from the carbon economy”, he said that it’s a matter of choosing energy transition and renewable energies, energies that are universally distributed, that are inexhaustible and that do not threaten the future of our planet.

“This transition has already begun and has started to yield positive results and must be supported by all. That is what we are doing here in the Principality of Monaco where we have a global policy of promoting renewable energies, clean mobility and energy efficiency.

“This is what we are doing as part of our international commitment through our active participation in UN climate talks.

“This is we are also doing in supporting and welcoming the numerous civil society initiatives, such as the EVER, the ecological vehicle trade fair, and the Formula E, which took place in Monaco a few weeks ago.

“And it is what I hope you will do in your discussions by making the energy transition one of the focal points of the local and global strategies that we must deploy, and by not separating energy security from environmental security.

“Because in order to reflect on and implement this energy transition, one of the key challenges of this century is that we need a great deal of not only determination but energy and skill as well.”

The Energy Security Forum plenary sessions covered themes such as Analytical Market Debate; Energy trading; Regional Perspectives, with a special focus on Central and Eastern Europe; Regional cooperation in the CEE area – V4 initiative, and Creating the Right Energy Mix for a Clean and Secure Future.

Article first published June 2, 2017.

 

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