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Day: 21 September 2023

Prince Albert II of Monaco meets with President Biden during trip to UN in New York

by: Stephanie Horsman
21/09/2023

Prince Albert II of Monaco headed to the United States earlier this week for a speech on climate change, biodiversity and AI at the UN General Assembly, as well as to meet with President Joe Biden. 

Prince Albert II hit the ground running in New York City, where he spent three days between 18th and 20th September presenting the Principality at several conferences and meetings centred around Climate Week.  

One highlight was the Earthshot Summit on 19th September, which Prince Albert attended alongside other public figures such as philanthropist and former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Britain’s Prince William, who founded the prize and was there in person to reveal the 2023 finalists. The winner will be announced in November.  

The Principality was also represented at the meeting by Isabelle Picco, Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, and Olivier Wenden, CEO of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, who took part in a ‘Funding Solutions’ panel discussion.  

Prince Albert II of Monaco is pictured with Isabelle Picco, Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. Photo credit: Nicolas Saussier & Michael Alesi / Palais Princier de Monaco

Later that evening, Prince Albert was welcomed by US President Joe Biden and his wife Jill at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the traditional reception given to the Heads of State attending the United Nations General Assembly. 

“What was a relentless commitment is now a duty for our survival”

The following day, the Monegasque Sovereign spoke at the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly, where he highlighted the Principality’s commitments to the missions of this global entity in several ways.  

“Respect for the environment and wildlife on land and sea, and supporting science, were fundamental priorities for the Princes of Monaco throughout the centuries,” he said during his speech. “Today, what was a relentless commitment is now a duty for our survival. Since our admission to the United Nations, we have been party to 50 international treaties covering a large spectrum of topics such as human rights, disarmament, the environment and law of the sea.”  

His attention and discourse then turned to the oceans, a topic of significant interest and importance to the Monegasque figurehead.  

“The crucial role of seas and oceans for regulating climate is clearly recognised now and helps us to handle this challenge holistically,” he said. “Because make no mistake, we will only be able to gain in the battle on climate if we work together.” 

 

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Photo credits: Nicolas Saussier & Michael Alesi / Palais Princier de Monaco

New video: Inside Pablo Picasso & Antiquity at the Prince’s Palace

by: Cassandra Tanti
21/09/2023

Take a tour of the exhibition ‘Pablo Picasso & Antiquity’ at the Prince’s Palace with Monaco Life in our YouTube video below.

 

Images and production by Cassandra Tanti.

 

Read the article:

Picasso’s grandson proudly presents ‘Pablo Picasso and Antiquity’ exhibition at the Prince’s Palace

 

 

98% of Europeans breathing toxic polluted air, says terrifying new study

by: Elsa Carpenter
21/09/2023
polluted air

Almost every single person living in Europe, home to nearly 750 million people, is breathing in dangerously polluted air according to a new study, and it could spell disaster for our health.  

An investigation led by The Guardian has revealed harrowing figures on air pollution across Europe. 

Already blamed for some 400,000 deaths each year in Europe, the newspaper and the team of scientists it commissioned for the study say the new findings point to a looming and severe “public health crisis” in the near future, with “almost everyone across the continent living in areas with dangerous levels of air pollution”. 

The study called on cutting-edge methodologies to gather data via satellite images and more than 1,400 ground monitoring stations, and ultimately produce an in-depth and interactive map listing the micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic metre in cities, towns and villages from Portugal in the southwest to the Greek islands in the southeast, and Iceland and Ireland in the northwest to Finland in the northeast.  

The result is shocking, with virtually every part of Europe awash in levels exceeding World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines for these “most dangerous airborne particulates”.  

According to the investigation, almost two-thirds of the European population live in areas where PM2.5 air pollution, which is primarily produced through the burning of fossil fuels, is more than double the WHO guidelines of five micrograms per cubic metre. Just 2% of the population is believed to live in areas within this “safe” limit.  

Chilling results across Europe 

PM2.5 pollution is particularly bad in Eastern Europe. The nation of North Macedonia returned the highest levels of air pollution, with almost four times the safe levels recorded in two-thirds of the country, while other states showing areas of serious concern include Serbia and Poland.  

A black spot also hovers above northern Italy, from Turin to Venice and Ravenna, with levels exceeding 19 micrograms – the top of the available scale – of PM2.5 per cubic metre in some areas.  

A screenshot of the map produced by The Guardian into PM2.5 air pollution across Europe. Photo credit: The Guardian

In France, 37% of the population resides in zones with double the WHO guidance levels. This rises to almost 50% in Spain and three-quarters in Germany. In the UK, three in four people live in an area where PM2.5 pollution is between one and two times the WHO safety levels.  

Locally, levels in Nice came back as between 12 and 14 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic metre, and between 10 and 12 for the rest of the Côte d’Azur, including the municipalities surrounding Monaco. Air quality improves the further you travel back from the coast, dipping to between 8.5 and 10 in Grasse, for example, while the more rural and higher altitude communes in the Alpes-Maritimes routinely return safe levels.  

The detailed map can be found here.

What is being done? 

Last week, the European Parliament voted to adopt a strict law on PM2.5 in line with WHO recommendations. The law must still pass through the European Council, but it could instigate legally binding limits on PM2.5 concentrations of five micrograms per cubic metre down from 25 by 2035. 

 

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Photo source: V2F Air, Unsplash

New safety and support app for domestic violence victims now available in Monaco

by: Cassandra Tanti
21/09/2023
App-Elles in Monaco

Monaco has been integrated into a new phone app called App-Elles which provides rapid access to help for victims and witnesses of violence.

Monaco’s Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Women’s Rights has now established a partnership with the Résonantes association, which developed the personal security application ‘App-Elles’.

It is designed to save users time and help them more easily find emergency information and contacts in their area. All Monegasque resources in terms of security, assistance, advice and emergencies are therefore accessible in the app.

‘App-Elles’ also allows users to quickly alert and contact loved ones designated as trusted third parties in the app as well as all relevant institutions available in the territory. This alert system is easy to trigger, and records and shares a situation in real time with these third parties.

The application, which is free and available on all major app stores, is currently being used in 14 countries, including now the Principality of Monaco.

Information on the application will be relayed during workshops on 26th and 27th September at the Maison du Numérique located in the Jardins d’Apolline, at 1 Promenade Honoré II.

For more information, visit: https://www.maisondunumerique.mc/agenda/decouvrez-l-application-de-securite-personnelle-app-elles

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Photo source: Monaco Government Communication Department 

Francesca Rava Foundation makes its mark on Monaco with spectacular gala

by: Cassandra Tanti
21/09/2023

The Francesca Rava Foundation, which has spent the past 20 years helping children and adolescents in Italy, Haiti and around the world, has held a spectacular fundraising gala at the Monaco Yacht Club.

The exclusive charity gala dinner and dance evening took place on Wednesday 20th September, organised by the Foundation under the patronage of the Italian Embassy.

It was attended by more than 350 friends and members of the Monegasque, French, Italian and international communities and young volunteers, many of whom were high school students from Monaco who also enthusiastically participated in the Francesca Rava Foundation volunteer camps in Italy and in NPH Homes in Latin America.

From left to right: Lia Riva, Mariavittoria Rava, Giulio Alaimo with his wife Susanna.

Who is the Francesca Rava Foundation?

The Francesca Rava Foundation N.P.H. Italia is an independent, non-political, charitable non-profit foundation whose mission is to help children in serious need, in Italy and worldwide, through children sponsorship, fundraising projects, volunteers and educational programs.

In Italy, the Foundation represents N.P.H. (Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos – Our little brothers and sisters) a charitable organisation for orphaned and abandoned children in Latin America.

Over more than 60 years, around 25,000 orphaned and abandoned children have been saved, nourished, raised with love and educated in the N.P.H. orphanages in Mexico, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Peru and Bolivia.

The Francesca Rava Foundation was founded in 2000 in the name of Francesca, the late sister of lawyer Mariavittoria, who met N.P.H. and decided to dedicate her life to helping children. The Francesca Rava Foundation Headquarters is based in Milan, Italy.

An exquisite fundraising gala

Guests at Wednesday’s gala were treated to the excellence of Italy on every level. They were greeted at sunset with a welcome aperitif on the observation deck of the Yacht Club de Monaco, made even more magical by an Armani Casa design, with a tasting of limited edition Champagnes from Nero Lifestyle.

The aperitif was accompanied by music by the renowned pianist Alessandro Martire.

The ballroom dinner was a highlight of the evening, prepared by three-Michelin starred Chef Massimiliano Alajmo, the youngest chef in the world to obtain this prestigious recognition at only 28-years-old.

The dinner was accompanied by a fine selection of wines from Masciarelli Tenute Agricole, after which Pâtisserie Riviera enchanted guests with a fairytale cake, offered to celebrate the arrival of the Francesca Rava Foundation in Monaco.

Time to party

Guests were treated to a live dance performance by Alessandro Ristori and the Portofinos, whose irresistible rock from the 50s and 60s and professional dancers livened up the evening and got everyone dancing.

The Hellenic Community of Monaco also joined the fun with President Sophia Vaharis Tsouvelekakis, who offered special Greek cocktails based on ouzo and tsipouro at the open bar.

Fund raising for a good cause

The live auction, organised by Casa d’Aste Artcurial, featured a selection of design objects, works of art and unique and exclusive experiences, including a fabulous dinner at the Quadri di Venezia and tickets to Il Ballo del Doge in Venice. A silent auction organised by Givergy offered prizes from some of the greatest sporting champions, including Nadal, Musetti, Totti and Verratti, as well major Italian fashion houses.

“The Francesca Rava Foundation was involved in the organisation of this evening with determination and love, not only to provide concrete help to many children in serious difficulty in Haiti, in Italy and around the world, but also to transmit the values linked to social and environmental sustainability, which inspire all of our projects,” said Foundation President Mariavittoria Rava. “To bring lasting and concrete change to the lives of those who need it most, it is not enough to do good, it must be done in the best possible way: this is the philosophy of the Francesca Rava Foundation, because even good requires excellence.”

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Photos credit: l’Agence SGP

OPMC to launch season with tribute concert honouring Prince Rainier III

by: Stephanie Horsman
21/09/2023
opmc rainier

This weekend, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Monte-Carlo is opening its 2023/24 season with a concert in honour of the centenary of Rainier III’s birth. Here are more of the highlights coming up over the next few weeks.

The Philharmonic Orchestra of Monte-Carlo’s (OPMC) new season is kicking off with a special Commemoration Rainier III concert on Sunday 24th September that will feature music by Andrzej Panufnik and Gustav Mahler, with Conductor Kazuki Yamada at the helm. Soprano Eleanor Lyons and mezzo-soprano Gerhild Romberger will be joined by Simon Halsey and the CBSO Chorus for the two-hour event that starts at 6pm at the Grimaldi Forum.  

Then, on Friday 29th September, pianist Alexandra Dovgan will play select pieces by Johan-Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Frederic Chopin. The show begins at 8pm in the Salle Garnier of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.  

Next comes a symphonic concert on Sunday 1st October at 6pm within the Auditorium Rainier III. Nathalie Stutzmann will conduct while baritone Matthias Goerne performs a selection of works by Serge Prokofiev, Gustav Mahler and Piotr Ilitch Tchaikovsky. 

A series: “Tribute to Rachmaninoff”

This will be followed by two concerts featuring the works of one of the finest pianists the world has ever known, in a “Tribute to Rachmaninoff”. The first will be on Sunday 8th October under the conductorship of Dmitry Matvienko with Simon Trpčeski on piano. The second sees Kazuki Yamada conducting and pianist Evgeny Kissin on Sunday 15th October. Both performances will be starting at 6pm in the Auditorium Rainier III.  

The next is an event made just for the kids: a musical tale based on Cabot-Caboche by Daniel Pennac. Pannac will narrate this world premiere, which was commissioned by the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. The show will be conducted by Debora Waldman on Wednesday 18th October at 3pm in the Auditorium Rainier III for those aged eight and up.  

A third “Tribute to Rachmaninoff”, who was born 150 years ago this year, is being held on Sunday 22nd October at the Auditorium Rainier III at 6pm. Pianist Francesco Piemontesi will be conducted by Tomáš Netopil, who will take on not only pieces by Rachmaninoff, but also works by Antonin Dvorák and Leoš Janáček.  

Next up on Tuesday 24th October, the OPMC will be holding the first Musical Happy Hour of the season. Expect pieces by Brahms and Strauss from 6.30pm at the Troparium of the Auditorium Rainier III.  

October’s concerts wrap up on Sunday 29th with a symphonic concert led by Conductor Lio Kuokman and featuring Hélène Grimaud on piano, with works by Brahms and Stravinsky on the programme. The concert begins at 6pm in the Auditorium Rainier III. 

For a full schedule of the season, to book tickets and for more information, please click here.

 

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Photo credit: OPMC