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Day: 26 June 2020

Cycling just got a whole lot easier in Monaco

by: Cassandra Tanti
26/06/2020

Monaco is upping the ante in soft mobility, creating a new track for bikes and e-scooters linking Fontvieille to Port Hercule via the tunnel under the Rock.
Cyclists will be able to easily make their way across the Principality through the tunnel, leading out onto Quai Antoine 1er and joining Boulevard Albert 1er and swimming pool route.
“Bicycles and Personal Displacement Vehicles (EDP), like electric scooters, are an increasingly popular means of transport in Monaco. They provide new solutions for getting around on a daily basis,” said Urban Planning Minister Marie-Pierre Gramaglia while announcing the new cycle path on Friday.
In addition to the existing bicycle paths, such as that on Princess Grace Avenue, bus lanes have also been open to bicycles and electric scooters, representing 1.7km of tracks throughout the Principality.
Non-motorised personal transport equipment such as skateboards, rollerblades, scooters without a motor and bikes can circulate in various shared public spaces such as Place d’Armes, outside the opening hours of the Condamine market, the Promenade Honoré II, the Quai Albert 1er, and Rue Princess Caroline – totalling around 2.4km of dedicated space.
Soft mobility is seeing a surge in popularity in the Principality, particularly since the onset of Covid-19 and a reluctance among the population to use public transport.
The government revealed that the e-bike service Monabike has an average of 1,200 uses per day and can reach as high as 1,600 uses per day.
There are currently 32 stations throughout Monaco installed with 300 bikes, and that will be boosted with three new stations in the coming days, together with eight new stations in the autumn.
Before the end of the year, Monabike users will have at their disposal 43 stations and nearly 400 bikes.

Meanwhile, people who wish to purchase e-bikes will receive a 30% subsidy from the government, capped at €400.
In light of all of these advances, the government says there will be “nothing to prevent the use of bikes in the streets of Monaco.”
It is important to remember that wearing a helmet is compulsory for all cyclists up to the age of 18 years, and it is highly recommended for those beyond.
A helmet is also compulsory for riders of electric scooters up to 18 years of age, as is the wearing of reflective clothing or equipment.
 
Photos: © Direction de la Communication Manuel Vitali
 
 

AS Monaco player tests positive for Covid

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/06/2020

As part of a plan to assess the overall health and fitness of its players, AS Monaco has tested the team and staff for Covid-19, and found one person to be positive.

During the routine yearly medical and physical exams taken by the squad members of AS Monaco, two players were found to have had the virus in the lockdown period and another was revealed to have the active, though asymptomatic, virus.

The two players with historic cases are no longer contagious and have been given the all-clear to restart their training. The player with the active case has been placed under quarantine for two weeks under medical supervision, in accordance with the health protocols put in place by the government. There are no concerns for the health of the player, and he is expected to return to the field after his confinement is over.

The testing for coronavirus in AS Monaco players this past week was just one element of the screening process the team members underwent and were also extended to members of staff.   

There was a slight concern that more members of AS Monaco may have been exposed to the virus by a person outside the club who has since tested positive. This proved not to be the case.

The clubs says staff and team members will undergo regular testing throughout the season to ensure the safety of all.

 
 

EU Parliament adopts measure to boost green investment

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/06/2020

The European Parliament has adopted a key piece of legislation to add to the European Green Deal, whose aim is to increase private sector investment in sustainable and eco-friendly projects.
The new measure, called the Taxonomy Regulation, will help create a “green list”. This list is set to be a unified classification system for all sustainable economic activities in order to create a universal place that investors can go to invest in environmentally-friendly projects and economic activities.
The idea is that if investors have a list of places to invest in sustainable projects that are readily available, they will, thus assisting in fulfilling the EU goal to be climate neutral by 2050.
“The adoption of the Taxonomy Regulation today marks a milestone in our green agenda,” says Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President responsible for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. “It creates the world’s first ever classification system of environmentally sustainable economic activities, which will give a real boost to sustainable investments. It also formally establishes the Platform on Sustainable Finance. This platform will play a crucial role in the development of the EU Taxonomy and our sustainable finance strategy over the coming years.”
The European Commission has also put out call for applications for people who would like to be a member on the new Platform on Sustainable Finance. This will be a 57 member advisory board consisting of experts from both the public and private sectors who will assist the EC in developing the EU Taxonomy more extensively to cover other environmental objectives and provide advice on financing solutions for sustainable projects.
 
 

Could “ecocide” be a new law in France?

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/06/2020

A citizen’s council is calling on the French government to hold a referendum on adding environmental protection to the Constitution to make the destruction of nature a crime.
After nine months of deliberations, a collection of 150 randomly chosen citizens voted last Sunday on a final proposal to submit to the French government on how best to combat global warming and environmental degradation. Amongst the suggestions is a law to make “ecocide” an offense punishable by law.
Ecocide is anything that causes extensive damage to ecosystems, mainly things that leave high carbon footprints or are poisonous to the land, air or sea.
The Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat (CCC) is the brainchild of President Macron, who initiated the group in 2019 as a response to the gilet jaunes movement. “We do not include our fellow citizens sufficiently in the transparent, debated construction of the solutions we put forward. So that is the idea behind the Citizens’ Assembly process,” Macron said in January at a CCC meeting.
Members were selected using an arbitrary phone number generating system and are made up of people ranging in age from 16 to 80 who were asked to come up with ideas on what could be done to reduce at least 40% of emissions by 2030.
The resulting ideas culminated in the thought that extensive ecological damage be made a crime in France and that French law should reflect this by introducing referendums on climate controls.
Making “ecocide” a crime will mean it is the legal responsibility of every citizen to take care of the environment, and in effect would give the environment “rights”. It would allow for the prosecution of those who wilfully do things to hurt the environment and would mean that CEO’s of major polluters and government ministers could be held personally accountable.
A similar bill was rejected in 2019 by the French Senate.
The CCC has presented its proposal to the Minister for Ecological Transition, Elisabeth Bourne, and will meet with President Macron on 29th June to formally present the case.
The CCC additionally proposed ending advertising for products with high-carbon emissions, such as SUVs. Placing a heavy tax on highly processed foods, and a total ban on dangerous pesticides by 2035. They also are recommending a ban on the sale of cars with high emissions from 2025, replacing them with better sustainable transportation options.
 
 

Monaco Yacht Show 2020 cancelled

by: Cassandra Tanti
26/06/2020

Despite its best efforts to push ahead, organisers have been forced to cancel this year’s Monaco Yacht Show, the most prestigious event on the global yachting calendar.
For months now, MYS organiser Informa Markets has been in discussions with stakeholders and partners involved with the Monaco Yacht Show, particularly the Monaco government, to determine if a low-density, not-for-profit, support event in the Principality would be possible this year.
Along the way, Informa had remained confident the event would go ahead if it could comply with the strict hygiene requirements set out by the government of Monaco in light of the Covid-19 crisis.
But on Friday, the organiser was forced to concede there were too many factors in play for it to continue.
“With much of the superyacht fleet currently located in the US and Caribbean and the normal calendar of activity severely disrupted, it has been agreed that it is in the industry’s best interests to postpone the delivery of a top quality, prestige experience 30th edition of the Monaco Yacht Show next year, in September 2021, rather than September 2020,” said Informa Markets in a statement.
In a normal year, the Monaco Yacht Show would attract more than 125 extraordinary one-off superyachts, around 40 of which are unveiled for the first time. For four days a year, everyone in the yachting industry turns their attention to the MYS.
Now, that attention will be diverted to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, scheduled to take place this year in late October.
“Like many other industries, the international super yachting community has experienced significant disruption in 2020,” said Charlie McCurdy, Chief Executive of Informa Markets. “As we move to the other side of Covid-19, we are remaining agile in how we are supporting our partners and customers, flexing our events calendar, adapting products and providing digital alternatives where beneficial to best meet the needs of international communities through this difficult period.”
The Monaco Yacht Show is now set to return in September 2021, when it will celebrate its 30th anniversary.
 
Photo: Monaco Yacht Show 2019, copyright McClic