The Stony Brook Foundation is paying tribute to Prince Albert II at a gala event at Cipriani in New York City for his commitment and dedication to ocean conservation and sustainability.
The Stony Brook Foundation, an entity dedicated to benefitting scholarships for students at Stony Brook University in New York, is holding its annual Stars of Stony Brook gala event on 13th April.
This year, Prince Albert II will be honoured, along with the President Emeritus of Stanford University John L. Hennessy, as two inspirations in their respective fields.
Prince Albert’s work on ocean conservation and environmental awareness are the catalysts for his selection, whilst Mr Hennessey’s special gifts lie in his transformative work in computer science and electrical engineering.
“This year’s remarkable honourees reflect the ethos of our university,” said Stony Brook Foundation Chair Richard Gelfond. “Both HSH Prince Albert II and John Hennessy, one of our most esteemed and accomplished alumni, are reflective of the impactful and innovative vision for the future of Stony Brook and of our shared world.”
Since its creation 23 years ago in 2000, the Stars of Stony Brook has raised over $64 million (€57.3 million) for scholarships and programmes of academic and clinical excellence. Proceeds from the event this year will go entirely to scholarships.
“It’s no secret that today’s students are navigating in a very challenging environment,” said President Maurie McInnis. “Even more so for Stony Brook students, many of whom are first-generation college students already challenged by financial obstacles. Friends of the Foundation’s annual gala share our determination to ensure Stony Brook continues to be a national leader in social mobility. Through continued financial support and by honouring individuals whose life’s work is a true inspiration, we strive to provide our students with opportunities that will make an impact on their lives.”
Prince Albert II has been a fierce environmentalist for decades and, through his Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, has handed out over $1 billion in philanthropy to several environmental organisations. His tireless work has made him a respected figure on the world stage as well as closer to home.
Photo by Gaetan Luci, Prince’s Palace
A decade of Committed Commerce for the environment
A meeting this week marked 10 years since the start of a Monegasque programme aimed at making local entities more environmentally aware.
The scene for the Committed Commerce Inter-territory meeting on Tuesday, the Oceanographic Museum, was entirely appropriate, as it was the first institution to sign on when the programme was instituted in Monaco.
The Committed Commerce label is a way to engage merchants in promoting and carrying out eco-friendly practices, specifically by targeting greenhouse gas emissions and waste reduction. When it all started, the government was focusing on ditching plastic utensils and non-reusable plastic bags by 2030.
Today, it is followed by merchants and restauranteurs who have been going under the Committed Restaurant label since 2020, and who are working toward sustainable consumption approaches to their businesses.
Committed Commerce has been a staple in Monaco since 2014, but was created a decade ago by the association, EcoScience Provence, along with its partner, SIVED NG in the Var. The idea spread quickly in the region and is now widely used as a symbol of environmental awareness and practices by a business.
The meeting was a day of discussion and reflection with Caron Dagioni, Minister of Equipment, Environment and Urbanism, congratulating the participating representatives for their commitment and their dynamism.
“Regulating, supporting and raising awareness are the axes of the Government policy on waste,” said Dagioni. “An ambitious policy can only be carried out if it obtains the support of economic actors and the population. You can count on the Principality to continue to promote this approach in our territory.”
Monaco’s approach is a slow and steady one, allowing each business to dictate their own pace and personalised solutions that work best for themselves and their customers.
Monaco can boast nearly a hundred businesses following the Committed Commerce programmes, including the entry of the first Michelin starred restaurants in 2021.
Photo by Stephane Danna, Government Communication Department
Sustainability in yachting: “It will take time to change”
Many industries see the search for sustainable solutions as a primal goal, and the yachting industry is no different. But as we learned during Monaco Ocean Week, the rate of progress in yachting is trailing behind, often because prospective owners are holding back the tide of change.
On Thursday 24th March, at the Yacht Club of Monaco, ‘Sustainability and added value of a Zero Emission Goal’ was the theme of a discussion session centred on the upcoming Monaco Energy Boat Challenge.
Among those on the panel were Patrick Coote, Managing Director Europe of Northrop and Johnson, Marnix Hoekstra, Creative Director of yacht design studio Vripack, and Jeroen Droogsma, Innovation Manager of Vripack.
One thing upon which they were unmistakably unanimous was the importance of sustainability for the future of their industry. “Sustainability is, I think, at the forefront of everyone’s minds, in every industry, in every area, in every sector,” Coote told Monaco Life.
“It needs to be an integral part of whatever you do, including the yachting industry,” added Hoekstra.
The actions and aspirations of the yachting industry are therefore changing as a new agenda dominates the decision-making process.
For Droogsma, the framing of these changes is of primary importance. “I would not like to speak about cost, but about investment. It is necessary to change the world. Someone has to pay for it, and if we don’t do anything, in 50 years we will end up with the same boats that we have right now.”
Some within the industry, most importantly prospective owners, don’t share Droogsma’s mindset, consequently holding back the tide of change. “What I see that is a shame or a mismatch with that is the uptake. There is a definite lag between the pace of development and the introduction of sustainable solutions and the uptake and implementation of those solutions,” Coote began.
Patrick Coote, Managing Director Europe of Northrop & Johnson, photo by Luke Entwistle
“Firstly, the status-quo is a very attractive way to keep things, because then people don’t have to change or adapt or get their head around a whole new way of doing things. Second is cost. Still, sustainable solutions, on the whole, are more expensive solutions than what we have today. I get it. When owners are doing a simple cost-benefit analysis, it’s understandable that a lot of them are thinking: Am I ready to change at all? And even if I am, does it make sense? Because I might want to be an innovator, I might want to show myself as a thought-leader, but I’m also pragmatic and I’m not going to throw a tonne of money at something that’s unproven, unreliable, untested,” Coote continued.
Patrick Coote summarised the reticence towards sustainable solutions in the industry in a simple maxim: “People are willing to be at the cutting edge, but they’re not willing to be at the bleeding edge.”
Consequently, the rate of progress in yachting is trailing behind that of other industries. Looking out onto Port Hercules from the deck of the Monaco Yacht Club, Droogsma’s attention was drawn towards not what has changed, but what has stayed the same. “We brought the solar energy race to Monaco five years ago, when the YCM was asking for a green event. At that time, we were already busy with solar panels and batteries, etc. If you look around now, there are still no boats with solar panels.”
Droogsma has therefore tempered his expectations, stating, “It will take time to change”.
There is an overriding sense that a societal shift is needed in order to facilitate a monumental shift.
Jeroen Droogsma, Innovation Manager of Vripack, during the panel discussion, photo by Luke Entwistle
“I think societal change is going to ultimately drive technological change,” says Coote. “I think, in the not-too-distant future, the idea that one family burns tens of thousands of litres of fossil fuel to go on holiday, to the detriment of the planet, will be viewed as completely unacceptable behaviour.”
Perhaps some of the more global elements that facilitate evolution are out of the hands of those effectuating change in the industry, but there certainly isn’t any passivity. As Hoekstra pointed out, educating owners is a key tool in bringing about a green revolution in the industry.
“The demand is there, but I also believe that you should, and can, create that demand. There is a lot of interest by owners, who would like to create a new yacht, but they aren’t always aware of what they can and should ask.” Vripack’s creative director continued, “If the owners could completely understand what is possible, and could ask for that, the push would be like a tsunami, it would be much larger. The awareness, and the growth of that awareness is helping the movement rapidly evolve.”
At the forefront of these efforts is Northrop and Johnson, which currently represents 10% of the sales market globally, and their actions that are quintessential in effectuating change. One of their strategies is facilitating discourse between relevant actors within both the yachting industry and in the environmental field. “We are trying to increase the level of engagement between ocean conservation NGOs, charities and yacht owners, so we are trying to act as a conduit for information and funds to flow between those two entities. I think bringing better awareness of ocean conservation work to yacht owners and yacht charterers is an important role that we can play,” said Coote.
He added, “We are doing our level best to nudge buyers in the right direction, or at least show them what is on offer. I would like to see a better take-up of those solutions, but we’re certainly doing our best.”
Many within the industry are therefore controlling the controllables, and although there is still a need for a stronger societal, economic impetus towards the adoption of green technology, here in Monaco, things are certainly heading in the right direction.
“If you look at meeting the clientele and having a ground base for the environment and electrification and solar power, it’s really due to the Prince, it being embedded in this community, in his government. It’s incredible,” says Hoekstra.
There is therefore a sense that the tide is turning, and it will have to, if yachting is to traverse these troubled waters and become a sustainable, greener industry.
Top photo by Cassandra Tanti, Monaco Life
La Turbie opposes merger with Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis
The elected officials of La Turbie have joined other municipalities in the Alpes-Maritimes in opposing the merger of the Department with the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis, as was suggested earlier this month by President Macron.
What was most likely a rather off-the-cuff statement made on 17th March by French President Emmanuel Macron during the presentation of his election campaign programme, has become a point of contention in the region as elected officials one by one are showing disdain for the idea of merging the Alpes-Maritimes Department with the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis.
Charles Ginésy, President of the Alpes-Maritimes Department and Eric Ciotti, the National Assembly representative for the Department, have both expressed annoyance at the possible abolition of a territorial level.
Similar reactions have come from other quarters, such as the Council of the Cap Azur metropolitan centre and the mayors of Antibes, Cannes and Grasse, who voted on motions to oppose it, according to a report in Monaco Matin.
In La Turbie, in a rare show of total solidarity, the elected representatives of the majority and opposition unanimously voted similarly.
“We do not want the history of our territories to be questioned in favour of an administrative approach which, under the guise of modernity, would like to dissolve an efficient, relevant and close to the citizens territorial organisation,” said Jean-Jacques Raffaele, Mayor of La Turbie, adding that the Department is “a major landmark for the Maralpins.”
The mayor continued, “It is therefore clear that today, this proposal put back on the carpet by the presidential candidate again puts the local elected representatives in front of an accomplished idea, without consultation or dialogue and far from the aspirations of the citizens and marking France’s deep ignorance of the territories (…) We, elected representatives of the Alpes-Maritimes, thus refuse this arbitrary project that is disconnected from the concerns of the inhabitants of our territory and affirm our desire that the Departmental Council of the Alpes-Maritimes continues to fully play its role within its current administrative and prerogative limits.”
Team Malizia, the Monaco Yacht Club racing team headed by Pierre Casiraghi and Skipper Boris Herrmann, will have a new boat in July 2023 for a busy racing schedule, as Herrmann prepares to contest the 2024 Vendee Globe.
The Monaco Yacht Club lounge was the scene for the unveiling of plans for the new boat being built for Team Malizia. Dubbed the Malizia III, the new 60-foot boat is intended to be used in the 2024 Vendee Globe, the legendary solo around the world competition that Skipper Boris Herrmann completed in 2021 on Malizia II.
He completed the race in 80 days, 14 hours and 59 minutes, coming in a respectable fourth place after colliding with a fishing boat just hours from the finish line.
“This is the first time that we have built our own boat,” Herrmann said. “We were able to bring our vision and our ideas, with a new boat with rounder shapes, not very fast on calm seas, but efficient in rough seas, as we expect to face in the next Vendee Globe.”
While the Vendee Globe isn’t until the end of 2024, Herrmann is already positioning himself to take the helm a second time for the race, something not many sailors have the gumption to do.
Naturally, the team is not limiting themselves to just the one race. On their programme are several prestigious events, including the 2023 Route du Rhum, the Ocean Race in mid-2023, the Transat Jacques Vabre at the end of 2023, and two France-New York transats in 2024.
The new boat will be heavier than the Malizia II and will be in the shape of a banana, it was revealed.
“Boris made difficult decisions for the purpose of the boat, we don’t know if it will pay off, but I sincerely think that we have taken the right direction,” said Pierre Casiraghi.
Team Malizia’s ocean racing is hugely important, but just as important is the environmental work they do. On the open sea, the team gathers samples from remote places for scientific observation, an invaluable resource for scientists. The team also educates children about ocean preservation and other environmental issues, in the hope that the next generation will have respect for the world around them.
“Our desire is to speak to young people and to involve all the children of the sailing school,” Casiraghi says. “They are curious and want to protect their environment. It is a pleasure to work with them.”
Photo of Boris Herrmann, source Boris Herrmann Racing
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