Month: June 2017

More than three dozen volunteers joined Monacology founders Didier Rubiolo and Kate Powers of Stars’n’Bars and Olivier Arnoult of MC Advisory at a press conference at the Grimaldi Forum on Tuesday to outline their programme for four days of environmental “consciousness raising”.

This year is the Association’s 13th anniversary and participants have chosen to focus on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals … a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

From June 6 to 9, Monaco schoolchildren will visit dozens of workshops, exhibits, film projections and interactive games addressing many of the 17 global goals, including climate change, water supply, clean energy, ocean protection and responsible consumption.

According to Kate, Monacology’s EcoVillage, which will be set up at Quai Antoine 1er, is “100 percent green” and the activities are manned by volunteers from government, non-profit associations and the private sector.

“It’s the Monaco community at its best”, she said. This year’s exhibits will also include a solar-powered boat built by local students and a solar-powered ambulance.

Article first published May 30, 2017.

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Monaco remains the top spot worldwide for the density of millionaires, but there has been a small slippage in recent years, according to the latest figures from Verdict, a business news and analytical organisation.

While it has been known for some time that just under a third of people – 30.6 percent – living in Monaco have a net worth of more than $1 million excluding the value of their principle residence. This year records a fall of 0.5 percentage points compared to 12 months earlier.

European cities dominate the global millionaire density rankings, with Geneva, Zurich and Zug in second, third and fourth position, followed by London, where one person in 29 is a millionaire. Two former British colonial city-state outposts with liberal economies represent Asia – Hong Kong, in sixth place, and Singapore in seventh. Frankfurt is ranked eighth and New York ninth, ahead of Paris in tenth position.

Tellingly, the gap between Monaco and the three Swiss cities remains very wide, with Geneva having a millionaire density of six percent. The French capital, at the bottom end of the top ten, records just two percent.

Verdict’s editor commented: “It is heartening to see London’s density of millionaires all but unaffected by last year’s Brexit vote suggesting people are waiting to see how negotiations between the UK and the European Union play out over the next couple of years.”

Article first published May 28, 2017.

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Didier Gamerdinger took office as Minister for Health and Social Affairs on Thursday, June 1, 2017. Minister Gamerdinger has taken over from Stéphane Valeri, who served in the post for seven years.

Following his appointment, the Council of Ministers held its regular meeting.

The new minister, 57, has served as a Counsellor of the Prince’s Cabinet since November 1, 2009. He first worked for the Government of Monaco in January 1989 in the Department of the Interior, rising to the post of Director General from February 1995 until October 2009. He has qualified in international law and holds a diploma from the French Ministry of the Interior in security matters.

Among the posts he has held in Monaco, Minister Gamerdinger has served as a member of the board of the Monaco Scientific Centre, and of the board of the Princess Grace Hospital. He is married with two children, and a keen sailor.

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Monaco has successfully submitted a draft proposal to the 70th World Health Assembly on a plan for a modification of the World Health Organisation programme for the control of poliomyelitis. The draft was cosponsored by more than 50 States – including all the Member States of the European Union – and was adopted by consensus on May 29.

The Monegasque Government, which has been involved for several years in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, is currently one of the largest per capita donors. HE Carole Lanteri, Ambassador of Monaco, serves as co-chair of the Global Partners Group of this initiative.

Eradication of the disease is now possible and should occur in the years to come if all the partners remain committed, the Government says. From this perspective, the Global Initiative’s work is concentrated on three endemic countries and in about 15 priority states.

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As part of the Larvotto land extension project, the Prince’s Government has launched an ambitious transplant operation for Posidonia, a protected underwater plant. A significant portion of the plants has been moved to two sites: within the Larvotto reserve and at the foot of the Fontvieille dyke.

Bouygues Travaux Publics, which is carrying out the maritime infrastructure works in collaboration with Trasomar and Andromède Océanologie, has just completed the transplantation of 500 square metres of the plant.

Posidonia oceanica is emblematic of the Mediterranean. Today it’s a protected species and constitutes a major marine ecosystem with a large biodiversity. It is also a source of oxygen and a trap for carbon.

There is currently no proven method for such a transplantation operation. Prior to the move, a scientific research operation was conducted to optimise posidonia displacement involving 637 metal baskets covered with canvas of biodegradable coconut fibres.

Pierre Descamp, managing director of Andromède Océanologie, has been involved in the project for more than two years. He said: “Replanting the posidonia in the reserve was quite simple: we dug several holes in the sediment to the width of our specimens and once the plant was installed, we filled the interstices. In order to maintain its characteristic structure in a herbarium, the baskets were tightened to the maximum.”

In Fontvieille, the relocation took place differently. Planters were installed 14 metres deep to accommodate the baskets. The baskets were set with sediment so that the plant could live and develop there.

Marie-Pierre Gramaglia, Minister of Public Works, Environment and Urban Development, said: “After the displacement of 147 large molluscs from the area of the future extension to the Larvotto reserve, transplantation of 500 square metres of posidonia is the second major operation in the preparatory environmental work. A follow-up over 10 years, will ensure the success of the movement of this protected and emblematic species.”

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