Month: December 2017

The genome of the first “robust” coral has been sequenced thanks to international collaboration between the Monaco Scientific Centre and King Abdullah University of Sciences of Saudi Arabia.

Tropical reefs are threatened with destruction by 2050 due to climate change and the entire scientific community is trying to find solutions to safeguard this ecosystem, one that is vital to economic and societal support for more than 500 million people worldwide.

Last October, HSH Prince Albert, in association with HRH Prince Charles of Wales and his International Sustainability Unit and HRH Queen Noor of Jordan, launched the “Coral Reef Life” declaration aimed at protecting this ecosystem.

One of these solutions is a better knowledge of the animals responsible for the formation of these reefs: hard corals. These live in symbiosis with unicellular photosynthetic algae that provide them with food. Corals appeared about 430 million years ago and evolved into two large families, called “robust” and “complex”, about 230 million years ago.

The genome of a representative of the corals of the “complex” family was sequenced in 2011, giving important information on the immune system of these animals, curiously very similar to that of the vertebrates.

It took six years before the teams of biologists from the Scientific Centre of Monaco (CSM), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia and the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) managed to sequence the first representative of the other large family, that of the robust ones, and show that the coral genomes can be surprisingly disparate. Indeed, these two corals have developed different immune systems as a result of several gene duplications. They also have a different physiological response to stress.

This comparative genomics study will enable researchers to identify and understand the sensitivity of corals to climate change, including the breakdown of symbiosis, known as bleaching, and their mechanisms of adaptation to ocean acidification and to warming. It should be noted that the sequenced species, Stylophora pistillata, is widely used around the world as a biological model.

This study, published on Thursday, December 14, in the journal Scientific Reports, is a giant leap forward in the advancement of knowledge of corals.

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Prince visits Yersin, attends cocktail reception in Martinique

On Monday, December 18, Princess Camilla of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duchess of Castro, visited the homeless in Nice alongside Les Anges Gardiens de Monaco (the Guardian Angels of Monaco), who every week distribute food and hot drinks to people living on the streets and the needy.

For more than a decade their route has been well established, women, children, families, and those without a roof over theirs heads wait for the Guardian Angels at the regular meeting points: the port church then the Promenade des Anglais, and finally the Gare de Nice. Hot meals, essential items, and a little human warmth, are distributed to hundreds of homeless.

Princess Camilla, Lady of the Order Constantine of Saint George – whose husband, Prince Charles, is the Grand Master – is also involved with Unicef, the Red Cross, Amade, and the Princess Charlene Foundation.

“I am very engaged in national and international orders, in particular, in charitable and humanitarian assistance,” she said. “And when the Guardian Angels of Monaco came to talk to me, I was touched. I wanted my presence to support their action on the ground.”

For more than 10 years, the Association of Guardian Angels has been financed only by generous donors, she said, adding that she hopes that her participation on Monday will bring more publicity to their activities.

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News

On the sidelines of the recent UN conference on oceans and the law of the sea, the Monaco Permanent Mission in New York organised an event for French-speaking legal advisers.

Professor Mathias Forteau, from the University of Paris-Nanterre, presented a work entitled “Treatise of International Law of the Sea”. This book, which offers an exhaustive view of maritime law, as contained in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982, is an indispensable working tool for students and practitioners of the international law of the sea.

Annick de Marffy-Mantuano, President of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Economic Law of the Sea (INDEMER), presented the work of this Institute, created in the Principality in 1985. She emphasised the importance of an integrated approach between the legal, economic, environmental and political domains.

The discussions during this meeting on December 6 highlighted the importance of promoting legal publications in French. Collaboration with the Permanent Representation of the International Organisation of Francophonie, in New York, is already envisaged on the same topic next year.

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Princely family celebrate Yersin’s departure from Monaco Yacht Cub

The annual flu outbreak has started early in France, as it did last year, according to IRSAN, the French research institute.

Ile-de-France has already witnessed an epidemic, with a sudden surge in cases, while eight out of 12 metropolitan regions are in the pre-epidemic phase, according to the latest weekly bulletin on influenza published by Agence Publique France.

So far, the south-east of France has escaped the worst of the virus, but acute gastroenteritis has reached epidemic proportions in the Grand-Est and PACA regions.

In 2015-2016, the epidemic peaked later, in March-April. Public Health France has issued a reminder that vaccination is the best way to protect against flu and its complications, but protection occurs only from 15 days after vaccination.

In Monaco, the 2017-2018 vaccine, which requires a medical prescription but is reimbursed 100 percent to those insured by the Monaco health service, has been available in pharmacies since October and offers protection for 12 months.

Side effects – such as sensitivity to the injection site and minimal flu-like reaction – are rare and not serious, usually disappearing in one to two days.

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An “unforgettable” networking evening courtesy of JCEM

Invited by President Emmanuel Macron, Prince Albert played a major part in the One Planet Summit, held in Paris on December 12, accompanied by a strong Monegasque delegation comprising HE Bernard Fautrier, Vice-President of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation; HE Claude Cottalorda, Monaco’s Ambassador to France, Frédéric Labarrère, Minister Counselor at the Monaco Embassy in France; Séverine Dusaintpère, First Secretary at the Embassy of Monaco in France and Laetitia Highman, of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

The event marked two years since the Paris Agreement on climate change. Its objective was to reflect on ways to innovate, support and accelerate the common struggle against climate change, and with a particular emphasis on finance.

The Sovereign Prince spoke alongside Allen Michaël, Antonio Gutteres, Richard Branson, Franck Bainimarama and Pravinol Kumar Jugnautha on the theme of “Increasing financing for adaptation and resilience”. His keynote address focused on oceans, marine protected areas, coastal ecosystems, fisheries, and the protection of the high seas.

In order to respond to the ecological emergency for the planet, the French President, the President of the World Bank Group and the UN Secretary-General brought together international leaders and committed citizens from around the world.

More than fifty speakers, including NGOs, entrepreneurs, investors, members of government, local actors, and scientists gathered around four roundtables, with the objective of identifying and implementing concrete solutions but also to mobilise public and private finance, including in the most vulnerable countries.

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Princely family celebrate Yersin’s departure from Monaco Yacht Cub

Offering Monegasque associations the support of employees made available to them for one day is the principle behind the Citizen Days Programme, launched by CFM Indosuez Wealth Management a year ago.

Each of the 86 volunteer employees helped an association in place of a working day. In total, 21 percent of the bank’s workforce took part, representing 613 hours of volunteer work.

Highly committed to corporate social responsibility, CFM Indosuez Wealth Management strengthens its commitment to non-profit associations in the Principality and builds with them a programme of support in areas consistent with their needs and common values, such as the environment, generational solidarity, childhood disability, the fight against precariousness or exclusion.

This initiative has been met with great enthusiasm by local associations, five of which benefited from Citizen Days in 2017: Fight Aids Monaco, Works of Sister Marie, No Finish Line, Les Enfants de Frankie, and the Monaco Red Cross. Thanks to the success of this year, both with associations and employees, the programme will be renewed in 2018.

The first anniversary was celebrated with a cocktail on Wednesday, December 13, at the CFM Indosuez Wealth Management branch, 11 blvd Albert 1er.

CFM Indosuez Wealth Management was named Best Bank in Monaco by the international magazine Global Finance in its 2017 awards.

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Credit Agricole’s Indosuez WM to buy Banca Leonardo