Day: 18 March 2019

In less than a week, Monaco will be hosting the historic visit of the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping. As a result, there’ll be a number of security measures and disruptions in the Principality.

As expected, Monaco will be reinforcing security for the president’s visit and that of his delegates. Today, they released a statement detailing the measure.

Two ministerial orders, n° 2019-225 and n° 2019-226, dated 13th March 2019 and published in the Journal de Monaco n° 8.425 of 15th March 2019 (www.journaldemonaco.gouv.mc), draw up the set of public security measures adopted.

These exceptional administrative policing measures concern:

– a ban on vehicles parking from Friday 22nd March 11pm to Sunday 24th March at 5pm, in the streets listed by Ministerial Order No. 2019-225 of 13.03.2019;

– a ban on the circulation of vehicles, on Sunday 24th March between 10.30am and 4.00pm, in various streets that may be affected by the procession route and detailed in ministerial order n° 2019-225 of 13.03.2019, including in particular :

Sector Fontvieille: avenue de Fontvieille

Charles III and Dorsale sectors: Place du Canton and Boulevard Charles III

Condamine sector: Place d’Armes, avenue Prince Pierre, Colle and Rocher streets and rue Grimaldi

The Rock sector: avenue de la Porte-Neuve and all the streets of Monaco-Ville

Area of ​​Ostend Avenue: Place Ste Devote, avenue d’Ostend, avenue Princess Alice

Sectors Hermitage and Monte-Carlo: Square Beaumarchais, Square St James, avenue de la Costa, avenue Henri Dunant

Pasteur sector: avenue Pastor

Sector of the Sainte-Dévote interchange: Boulevard du Jardin Exotique, Bd Rainier III, Sainte Dévote interchange

Any grouping or demonstrations in the above sections is banned on Sunday 24th March between 4am and 5pm.

Flights over the Principality and drones are also prohibited during this time.

In addition, there will be a zone of temporary prohibition of anchoring and navigation of ships, as well as helicopter flights in the Monegasque maritime and air space on Sunday 24th March between 10am and 5pm.

Also, the Condamine Market and the Oceanographic Museum will be closed this Sunday, and pedestrian and car access to the Rock by the Ramp-Major, the Porte Neuve and Fort-Antoine will be prohibited between 10.30am and 5pm. The Rock remains accessible by the elevators of the Chemin des Pêcheurs Parking where the Line 1 terminal of the Monaco Bus Company will be relocated.

The itineraries of the city bus lines and intercity bus lines will be changed and passenger traffic at the Monaco SNCF station will be restricted between 9.30am and 5pm.

“The Prince’s Government counts on the understanding of all of the residents and calls on their help to make this day a complete success,” said the government in a statement.

The forecast is dire. The world is in a mad-rush to combat climate change and cap global warming at 1.5°C before disaster strikes. We know rising carbon levels are to blame, but have we been looking at CO2 all wrong? Could carbon be the solution in the problem? Skymining thinks so, and if the name hasn’t peaked your interest yet, then the technology certainly should.

Skymining is aiming to turn the idea of carbon on its head. Rather than capturing and hiding CO2, it believes we should be embracing Mother Nature and harvesting the proceeds.

“Carbon is the basis of all life,” says Carl Pendragon, founder and CEO of Skymining. “It is a life-giving thing that carries oxygen and water, without carbon there is no life. And to call that a waste product, to try to build CCS plants (Carbon, Capture and Storage) for a billion dollars each to pump that down to the wrong place, that is a mistake.”

Skymining does exactly as the name implies: it ‘mines’ carbon dioxide from the atmosphere via large sections of barren land which are planted with fast growing African grasses. They naturally pull down CO2 from the sky and store about 20% in the ground thereby restoring the ecosystems. The rest is turned into carbon negative fuels, food and fibre.

Skymining aims to tackle climate change in three ways: to replace the existing use of fossil fuels, to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, and to help end deforestation and soil erosion.

The company made somewhat of a ‘soft launch’ on Friday 15th March at Clean Equity Monaco. It was one of 26 companies to present at a conference that had Ban Ki-Moon, 8th Secretary General of the United Nations, as its keynote speaker and is heavily backed by environmentalist Prince Albert II.

According to Skymining, its technology is tenfolds more cost-effective than solar and wind power, an industry which has received 2.5 trillion euros in investment in only the last decade, yet still makes up no more than roughly 1% of global energy supply.

Nonetheless, Skymining will still be producing a combustible fuel – something that the world is desperately trying to shift away from but is, according to Carl Pendragon, a reality for the near future.

“80% of our current energy comes from burning things, and we know it’s going to take 20 to 40 years to transition to a non-combustible future. In that transition period we have to burn something other than fossil fuels, otherwise we will kill our planet before we save it.”

“Unlike dirty fossil fuels, when you mine carbon out of the sky it is connected to oxygen, so our pollution, the waste-stream from our process, is oxygen for the planet.”

Skymining has made considerable efforts in the area of financial engineering to develop a strategy to monetise emissions. It means that corporations like the oil industry can re-capture its emissions, use them as a new source of fuel, and make more money in the process.

The Monaco Ambassadors Club will be hosting a presentation of The Conseil National of Monaco, represented by its President Stéphane Valeri.

The Monaco Ambassadors Club organises conventions and debates on a regular basis to keep its members informed on a variety of topics including health, environment, economy, luxury and major society issues.

Mr Valeri will present the role of the hemicycle, its structure, its history and its influence.

Christian Moore, President and the Board of Directors of the Monaco Ambassadors Club, will be heading the event on Thursday 28th March. It will be held at 6.30pm at the Conseil National.

The presentation will be followed by a cocktail.

A utopia. A myth. A perfect society. That’s how Monaco has been described in a new 60 Minutes story that aired across the globe this weekend. In his report, journalist Anderson Cooper highlighted the positive perspective locals have of the Principality, while adding his own impression of Monaco as a “country club rather than a country” and Prince Albert as its “luxury landlord”.

American television network CBS aired the 60 Minutes segment, titled Inside Monaco: the ultimate playground for the rich, on Sunday 17th March. In it, Anderson Cooper interviews a number of Monaco personalities: Steven Saltzman, Yann-Antony Noghès, Pieter van Naeltwijck, Flavio Briatore and, of course, Prince Albert of Monaco.

“Monaco is a utopia,” says Steven Saltzman from the back of a speeding boat, “It’s a country with no sovereign debt, where about 100 nationalities live together, protected in peace by a planet-loving prince. It’s a perfect society.”

Anderson Cooper is not so convinced, referring to Monaco’s small size and calling it a “cramped alcove of aging apartments hugging a harbour barely big enough for the boats that dock here.”

But he was, somewhat, in awe of the legendary lifestyle of Monaco. “It feels as much like a country club as a country,” says the iconic journalist.

Cooper touches on the hot topic of taxes and the perception that Monaco is a tax haven, but that is rebuffed by Saltzman, who responds: “We pay our sales tax. We pay our property tax. We pay our tax on our employees and corporate profits. They don’t need more taxes.”

Cooper concedes that: “Prince Albert has pushed to get the country in line with nearly all international banking regulations.”

The 14-minute report is quite comprehensive, covering everything from housing and security, to the Monaco Grand Prix and Princess Grace.

It ends with Italian businessman and Twiga nightclub owner Flavio Briatore taking Cooper for a drive in his Lamborghini. “We have people spend 300,000 euros in one night,” he laughs, “on champagne and party.”

With that, and over images of pretty women and men with bulging bellies, Anderson Cooper ends his report: “In this age of instability, uncertainty and inequality, it may seem strange this odd oasis of opulence still exists. But Monaco wants you to forget about all that. Have some champagne, enjoy the party, why worry? From here, the rest of the world is far, far away.”

See the full report here.