Minister of Finance and Economy Jean Castellini has presented the economic attractiveness of the Principality to more than a hundred financial experts from across the globe.
The Central Banks Seminar was held in Monaco on Wednesday, during which the government spoke of the specifics that make it an attractive country economically and an attractive financial centre.
“The Monegasque economy is based on a virtuous model, where the safety and stability of the environment are synonymous with trust in residents and international investors which contribute to the growth and sustainability of the economic model, and ultimately to the balance of public finances,” said Mr Castellini.
Organised by Crédit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank (Crédit Agricole CIB), the three-day seminar is addressing various topics including investment opportunities, green finance, and future markets.
The Because the Ocean (BTO) initiative has released a new report, with the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, offering actionable solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change and global warming on the Ocean and promote Ocean resilience.
Ocean for Climate: Ocean-Related Measures in Climate Strategies responds to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report, which highlights the need for timely, ambitious and coordinated action to address the unprecedented damage inflicted on the Ocean by global warming and other human activities. With the Principality of Monaco, BTO, an initiative that brings together 39 countries committed to reinforcing Ocean resilience in the face of climate change, has been instrumental in supporting the creation of the IPCC Special Report and raising awareness of the inextricable link between climate change and the Ocean.
Because the Ocean is a state-led initiative. The proposed solutions are complementary to those put forward by civil society, in particular those of the Ocean and Climate Platform (POC), of which the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation is one of the founding members.
The solutions outlined in the report stem from a series of workshops organised by BTO that took place over three years, aimed at identifying best practices of Ocean-based climate action. The five key actions are (1) encouraging natural carbon sequestration by coastal ecosystems; (2) developing a range of sustainable ocean-based renewable energy solutions; (3) promoting adaptation and resilience solutions for vulnerable populations, marine ecosystems and ecosystem services threatened by climate change; (4) implementing hybrid solutions supporting both adaptation and mitigation in the fisheries and aquaculture sector; and (5) “greening” the shipping sector.
“The Ocean has a major influence on climate change. It plays an essential role in climate regulation by absorbing more than 25% of CO2 emissions and more than 90% of the excess heat due to global warming,” said HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, a long-time supporter of BTO. “Therefore, there can be no action to fight climate change and limit its impacts without looking at the Ocean as a whole: its functioning in the climate system, the health of its ecosystems; its relationship to coastal communities, and all the economic activities that take place in and around it.”
The Prince continued: “Now that scientists have fully assessed the situation and the challenges we face, I remain resolutely committed to the fight against climate change and the protection of the Ocean.”
The report comes ahead of the 25th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP25), which Prince Albert is set to attend in Madrid, Spain this December. At the urging of the Chilean Presidency, COP25 was placed under the “Blue COP” banner, focusing on the role of the Ocean in climate change mitigation, as well as the impact of climate change on the Ocean. The relocation of COP25 in Madrid (BTO’s headquarters and FPA2 Spanish branch office) in partnership with Chile will help reinforce the blue dimension. It is anticipated that COP25 President Carolina Schmidt, Environment Minister of Chile, and Teresa Ribera, Spain’s Minister for the Ecological Transition, will be powerful advocates and allies for action to increase Ocean resiliency.
The report also aims to inspire greater attention to the role of the Ocean as governments prepare to update and enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in 2020, in accordance with the 2015 Paris Agreement adopted by Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Specifically, the report’s purpose is to provide incentives for including practical and effective ocean-based measures in climate strategies.
This year celebrates the 30th anniversary of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Lycée Albert 1er launched an exhibition highlighting the distressing, but important, topic of child trafficking.
Instigated by the Department of External Relations and Cooperation and with the full cooperation and collaboration of the Department of Social Affairs and Health, the Department of National Education, Youth and Sports and the Department of International Cooperation, students will be able to see photographs presenting the projects supported by the Prince’s Government with regard to assisting in the eradication of child trafficking.
Monaco has been active in its role of taking action against child trafficking, not least of which by signing onto the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings ratified in 2015.
This exhibition is intended to bring heightened awareness to the public-at-large, and especially to the youth, about all the acts the Principality is involved in this arena.
The presentation will be transported on the 20th of November, the actual 30th anniversary date, to the Grimaldi Forum where it will join other educational expositions and activities, including an exhibit from the High Commissioner for Refugees entitled ‘My country is a camp’.
Exploitation of society’s most vulnerable touches all of us, and can take the form of forced labour, sexual exploitation, involuntary thieving and begging, or organ smuggling.
Educational materials will be distributed in Monegasque schools throughout the month of November. The exhibit will be available for viewing until 29th November.
The Monaco Yacht Club’s Sportsboat Winter Series has begun with racers from all over the continent pouring in to participate.
First launched in 2013, Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series is a programme of races split into five acts with two types of one-design yachts, the Melge 20 class and the J/70 class, descending on the Bay of Monaco for intensive training and demanding regattas.
Act I, which is taking place from 7th to 10th November, will see more than twenty boats based in the Principality taking to the seas as part of the J/70 Monaco Class Association, one of the largest fleets in the Mediterranean. In all, roughly forty yachts will take part with racers from fifteen nations around Europe.
Yesterday marked the training sessions, and today the contests begin earnest. Three races lasting about one hour will be held on each day of the remaining three days, giving competitors a taste of what’s to come for the rest of the season.
A total of 45 races will be held during the five acts of the series, giving crews an excellent opportunity to perfect techniques and work out kinks in anticipation of the highlight of the programme, the Primo Cup-Trophy Credit Suisse, taking place during Act IV, from 6th to 9th February.
Monaco will be the hosts of the world championships for boats in this category in 2021.
Stuart Burns is the new man at the helm of the International School of Monaco. His experience is extensive and incredibly diverse, from heading up some of the most privileged schools in the UK to working with the government to develop educational programmes in disadvantaged districts of London.
This lover of languages spoke to Monaco Life about his three-pronged approach to education and how he plans to bring out the best in his students at ISM.
Stuart Burns: I have had a really exciting and enjoyable career. I worked in some big brand international schools like Brighton College and Dulwich College, where I was senior master, and Stanford, where I was head. I also worked in some very tough areas, for instance founding schools in Olympic Park for the government and trying to bring about change in the UK academy’s programme, which is really about revitalising education in those areas. I was introduced to the board here at ISM through the work that I was doing with the UK government, and they very kindly gave me the opportunity to work with them in Monaco. I was fulltime behind my desk by the end of July.
Do you come with a family?
I am married to Claire; we have been married for 22 years. Our daughter Hannah is at Edinburgh University and she is about to turn 20, and our son Mark is at a school in Kent and he has one more year to go. I would have loved him to experience the IB here, but unfortunately the timing was one year out.
Apart from ISM, what else drew you to the region?
I love languages. I studied languages at Cambridge University, particularly French and German. One of my first jobs was in a French school in south-west France for a year. So, I appreciated the chance to speak French here. I also think that the opportunity to come to a place like Monaco doesn’t come around all that often, so you take it when it is presented to you. In the UK, I have headed up private schools and state schools, so I thought: “What can I do now?”. I want to bring fresh energy to this position, and it’s a great opportunity to come to a country that I love.
Can you tell us about ISM and your interpretation of the school?
We have a wonderful mix of nationalities at ISM. We have a strong anglophone contingent spread over lots of countries; we have kids from Asia, France and Italy of course, but also northern Europeans, as well as the US and Australia. We had a similar makeup in the boarding houses of Brighton College and Dulwich College, so I am very familiar with that sort of environment.
There is a very committed and passionate group of teachers here, and that has really impressed me.
I also think the setting is quite inspirational, right here on the port of Monaco; it’s a wonderful place for people to come to school. And there’s a new board who has a lot of drive, so it’s a really exciting journey.
The school is 25 years old, which is a huge tribute to the people who founded it. The ISM started with a handful of children in a few classes and it has grown to what we are now, which is 670 students aged from three to 18 years. We send boys and girls to top universities in the US, Europe, and the UK. So, the school has evolved and we would like for it to be an even greater part of Monaco’s strength.
Every teacher has their own philosophy of how they approach their job. What is yours?
I keep it simple. I look for the academic ambition of a child. That means, being the best that they can be, whatever their starting point– because some children are naturally better at some subjects than others and that’s absolutely fine. As I say to the students, you are not here to be miserable because someone set you an unrealistic target, or be miserable because you are not appropriately challenged. It is about finding balance. I like to see an individual approach from my colleagues, thinking about how they can meet the needs of each child.
The second strand of my educational philosophy is around the contribution that boys and girls can make to the life of the school. The world is full of successful people, but not all of them did particularly well at school or university, or even went to university. I think success is also about exploring sports, art, drama, debating. One of the lovely things we are doing here is a model United Nations, where we invite other schools from Europe to debate. We also have a philanthropy club which, for example, cleans up after the Monaco Yacht Show. You wouldn’t normally associate that with the international school because it is part of a privileged society, but they are very serious about the environment and the world around them, and they are actually very humble and down to earth in terms of their ambitions. So, the second strand is about contributing to life and developing skills so that when they enter the workforce they will have had the experience of being in a team, speaking in public, and knowing what it’s like to deal with disappointment. All of that is very important.
Class 12 service trip to Vietnam
The third strand is really around the community that we have built here. I say to the students, “We are all the same; we are all equal”. We are kind and decent to each other and we look out for each other. If someone is unpleasant, we challenge that. And whether it’s a caretaker, a physics specialist, a cook or a head teacher, we all look after each other in the same way.
Given your experience working in the disadvantaged neighbourhoods of London, do you think it is important to bring some of that ‘reality’ into the lives of these children here in Monaco?
Absolutely, but I have been very impressed by the parents who do a huge amount philanthropically. I don’t think you would find a single one of our parents who isn’t involved in some way in a charity or fundraising. And the children are buoyed by that. The PTA is also incredibly active. So, I like to talk to children and staff about what life is like in east London, for instance, where it is quite tough.
Class 11 geography field trip to Iceland
The world that these children are going into is vastly different than the world we grew up in. What challenges does that give you as a principal and how are you addressing those?
Firstly, the digital world has been with us for many years but schools have gotten away with not being particularly up to speed. Even universities don’t do a huge amount about this; they are focused on academia rather than readiness for the workplace. It’s a slow changing culture. In that case, I think there is a responsibility on the school. This has been the first school that I have worked in to hire a digital coach, who works with staff and students.
I think the ability to be on your feet and to talk to a group of people is also absolutely crucial, because in the working world they will come up against many people who can do that. That’s why debating is really important, it readies them for the outside world.
We also have a nice project that our head of secondaries has started for year 10 students, which is preparing young people for the future. He does a bit of coding, cookery, public speaking… it’s a life skills course that we run for 15-year olds. And they probably won’t get that anywhere else; they certainly won’t get that at university. So that’s an important part of preparing them for their future.
What would you like your legacy to be here at the ISM?
I think I am here to bring an international perspective, my expertise and the experiences that I have had, particularly in the UK. There’s no doubt that the independent schools I have worked at in the UK are considered some of the strongest in the world. What I want to see here are results at IGCSE and IB. We had a great year with the IGCSE’S this year and we have a really good number of students in top universities, but we want to build on that. I am keen to make sure we go that extra mile for the students because I want them to make their own way in the world. Of course, because this is Monaco, they’ve got connections and loving families and that will get them a long way in life. But I want them to also think: “Should I be doing a profession that no one else in my family has done before?” for example. It’s about giving young people the confidence to realise that they can break out into the real world. In order to achieve that we have to challenge them in the classroom and say, “Come on you can do a little better, aim a little higher than that”. So, I think academic ambition has to come first.
Pastoral care is also important, and the work they do here for the students’ happiness and wellbeing is as strong as anything I have seen anywhere.
The other thing I think I can bring to the ISM, as we build our strength, is to take the lead locally in terms of organised sports. There is a massive ethos in other parts of the world of competitive sports, but it’s not so big in mainland Europe because kids tend to do that in their clubs of a Saturday afternoon. As a school we could become a hub for sports and utilise the amazing facilities we have in the area. We are also hosting Monaco’s first TEDX conference next October, and there will be lots of people coming to the school for that. For all of these reasons, I am very much looking forward to my future here at ISM.
First time’s a charm. At least that is the case for French superstar DJ David Guetta, who walked away with three honours at the 8th annual NRJ DJ Awards held at the Grimaldi Forum on Wednesday night.
In his first ever appearance at the awards ceremony, Guetta was clearly chuffed as he took home the prizes for Best Live Performance of the Year, Best Dance/Electro Single, and the NRJ Award of Honour on the eve of his 52nd birthday.
The well-loved Parisian DJ has sold more than 15 million albums and over 80 million singles worldwide.
The awards are given based on NRJ radio listener votes in seven categories: French-speaking DJ of the Year, Group or Duo of the Year, Revelation of the year, Live Performance of the Year, Single of the Year, and Club Hit of the Year.
The NRJ DJ Awards took place amid the two-day Monaco International Clubbing Show held on the 6th and 7th of November. Now in its 10th year, the event brings together professionals from the world of nightclubs, bars, beach clubs, hotels and restaurants to share and mingle with decision-makers from the hospitality sector looking for innovations and new ways to entertain customers on the job.
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