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Day: 28 October 2022

Prince’s Foundation to launch 3rd Environmental Photography Award

by: Stephanie Horsman
28/10/2022

The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation is inviting photographers to send in their best snaps on topics pertaining to environmental protection and nature, with the goal of raising awareness for the plight, and the beauty, of the world around us.  

Inaugurated in 2021, the Environmental Photography Awards organised by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (FPA2) is an excellent opportunity for photographers interested in nature and the world around us to show off their talents for a good cause. 

The now-annual contest, which is held in association with Barclays Private Bank and SEK International University, asks shutterbugs to help raise awareness of important environmental issues and encourages them to show not just the beauty of the world, but also the detrimental effects of humanity on ecosystems.  

“Building on the success of the first two editions, we wish to continue to develop the Environmental Photography Award and, through it, the reflection on our relationship with the world and with nature,” says Olivier Wenden, Vice-President and CEO of the FPA2. “We are pleased to note the growing interest expressed by international photographers, who are participating in ever greater numbers in the competition, but also the attention gained by a wide public through the exhibitions that we have been able to offer in the Principality, but also in Italy, San Marino, Spain and the United States.” 

The contest allows for a broad range of interests and acceptable themes that include Polar Wonders, Ocean Worlds, Into the Forest, Humanity Versus Nature and Change Makers: Reasons for Hope.  

How to enter

Entries will be accepted between 2nd November and 15th January 2023, and can be uploaded to Photocrowd, a dedicated platform for the contest. It is free to enter and photographers can submit up to five photos in each of the five categories of the competition. The link for entries can be found at www.photocrowd.com/fpa2.photoaward.   

A panel of judges, all professional photographers, will select the shortlisted and winning images. The public will also be given a chance to vote for their favourites via the competition’s website for a two-week period starting 3rd April 2023. Additionally, Monaco’s secondary school students will, for the first time this year, be invited to vote on the shortlisted snaps and will be treated to an awareness-raising presentation and discussion on today’s major environmental issues.  

“Photography is a very powerful way to give a voice to endangered wildlife and environment,” says Sergio Pitamitz, President of the Jury. “In the panorama of world photography, there are countless photo competitions dedicated to nature, but few are those that are really committed to the real conservation of nature and the environment. The Environmental Photography Award competition, organised by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, is one of them.” 

5,000€ and the chance to photograph the Ecuadorian jungle

The Grand Prize is 5,000€ and an invitation to visit the Amazon Research Station at the University of Ecuador, where they will participate in a photo documentary of the Ecuadorian jungle.

Winners in each category will receive 1,000€, and both the Public Award and the newly added Student’s Choice Award will receive 500€.  

Winning shots will be presented in an exhibition in Monaco, before touring internationally. They will also be published the Environmental Photography Award catalogue.  

 

 

Photo by Monaco Life

 

 

Tesla SUV becomes EU car of choice as the bloc aims for zero emissions by 2035

by: Elsa Carpenter
28/10/2022

Tesla’s Model Y electric SUV topped the new vehicle registration list in Europe last month, making it the car of choice for eco-friendly consumers. It’s well-timed, as the European Commission has announced all new cars registered in the EU will be zero-emission by 2035.  

The Model Y, a midsized sport utility vehicle from car manufacturer Tesla, has only been on the market for two short years, but is fast becoming the car of choice for Europeans.  

According to a report from London-based JATO Dynamics, there were 29,367 new Model Y’s registered in the EU just last month, up a whopping 227% on the previous year.  

The surge in sales for the car has most certainly come from consumers looking to make the switch from petrol to electric vehicles, but who still want a car that looks good and has all the bells and whistles.  

Word on Tesla’s September success came as the EU announced an agreement that all new cars and vans will, from 2035, be zero-emission, with an intermediary step that new CO2 standards will come down by 55% by 2030 for cars and 50% for vans.  

The provisional agreement will now go to the Parliament and Council to be formally adopted. Once this happens, it will be enforced EU-wide.  

This is the first step in the EU goal ‘Fit for 55’, a legal obligation to reduce total carbon emissions in the bloc by 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.  

“The agreement sends a strong signal to industry and consumers: Europe is embracing the shift to zero-emission mobility,” Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal Frans Timmermans says. “European carmakers are already proving they are ready to step up to the plate, with increasing and increasingly affordable electric cars coming to the market. The speed at which this change has happened over the past few years is remarkable. It is no wonder that this file is the first one in the entire ‘Fit for 55’ package where Member States and the European Parliament have come to a final deal.” 

  

 

Photo source: Moritz Kindler for Unsplash

“New Ideas for Monaco”: a new political party at work

by: Stephanie Horsman
28/10/2022

Led by Daniel Boéri, the Non-Inscrits-Monegasques political party is looking to shake up politics in the Principality as they throw their hats into the mix for the upcoming elections.

There’s a new party in town, and they mean business. Created by 78-year-old Daniel Boéri (pictured above), who left the National Council last July due to an alleged “difference of opinion”, the Non-Inscrits-Monegasques (NIM) are hoping to give the current president of the National Council, Brigitte Boccone-Pagès, and her National Union Party a run for their money.

NIM currently has a membership of around 20, though they are confident that once they get their word out, many more will join.

“We don’t wait for the future like we wait for the train.”

“Between housing, purchasing power and mobility, it’s hard to talk about all the issues that await us,” says Boéri. “Our desire is to think about how to offer 10-year-olds an even better Monaco in 10 years. We have zero debt, and two and a half billion in cash. Nevertheless, we have to prepare. We don’t wait for the future like we wait for the train. The future, it’ll come, but we have to also have to prepare and integrate all the climatic, technological, European and global changes that we must adapt to.”

At a press conference this week, the team laid their cards on the table. Ideas ranged from a bill to compensate owners who lose their views when a new building is built to the founding of a national theatre, the acceleration of the zero-waste policy and the anticipation of the changes resulting from telework.

There is talk of the NIM possibly joining forces with the newly relaunched Horizon Monaco, the group headed up by Laurent Nouvion, who were historically against former National Council President’s Stéphane Valeri’s ideas. Though still not on the same page as the NIM, there is inside talk the two groups can find a middle ground, with Boéri admitting he would step aside from a leadership position under the right circumstances.

On the other side of the political stage, President Boccone-Pagès presented her party’s platform to the press on Monday 17th October. She will campaign until the elections, which will be held on 5th February 2023, alongside 23 running mates, taking pains to call her people a union, rather than a party, which they believe sounds more “unifying than divisive”.

One thing is for certain, Monaco politics is heating up, and the ideas being brought to light now will be the backbone of the future here.

 

 

 

Photo source: Daniel Boéri/Facebook