Day: 14 November 2024

France’s Ecological Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher and President Macron will skip COP29 in Azerbaijan, citing misuse of the summit by Azerbaijan amid rising France-Azerbaijan tensions over climate.

France’s Ecological Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher announced her decision to skip the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, marking a rare absence of senior French representation at a UN climate conference. The move comes after Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev accused France of “brutally” suppressing climate issues in its overseas territories, a statement that Pannier-Runacher denounced as “unacceptable” and “unjustifiable.”

In her address to the French Senate on Wednesday, Pannier-Runacher claimed that Azerbaijan was misusing the platform of COP29 to promote a “personal agenda” rather than fostering climate cooperation. French President Emmanuel Macron has also chosen not to attend the summit, making COP29 the first such conference since the 2015 Paris Agreement that France will not attend with high-level leadership. The decision highlights escalating tensions between Paris and Baku, fuelled in part by France’s support for Azerbaijan’s regional rival, Armenia.

The dispute intensified on Wednesday after Aliyev, addressing a group of leaders from small island nations, accused France and the Netherlands of “neocolonialism”. He alleged that France had inflicted “environmental degradation” on its overseas territories, citing nuclear testing in French Polynesia and military actions in New Caledonia, where recent clashes between protesters and police led to multiple casualties. The remarks ignited further diplomatic friction, with French officials denouncing Azerbaijan’s accusations and its continued reliance on fossil fuels, even as it hosts COP29.

EU climate chief Wopke Hoekstra and the Dutch government both defended France in statements made later on Wednesday, refuting Aliyev’s assertions and calling for climate talks to remain focused on collaborative progress. Hoekstra praised France’s commitment to climate action, emphasizing that COP summits should foster open negotiation, unimpeded by bilateral conflicts.

The climate summit, meanwhile, has faced scrutiny from NGOs criticizing Azerbaijan’s investment in fossil fuels, which some claim undermines the credibility of its COP29 presidency. Aliyev defended Azerbaijan’s energy policies, accusing Western nations of hypocrisy for both condemning and purchasing Azerbaijani oil and gas. French officials joined this criticism, calling Azerbaijan’s stance “unworthy of a COP presidency” given the summit’s central mission to combat climate change.

Monaco Life is produced by real multi-media journalists writing original content. See more in our free newsletter, follow our Podcasts on Spotify, and check us out on Threads,  Facebook,  Instagram,  LinkedIn and Tik Tok.

Photo credit: Orkhan Farmanli, Unsplash

In line with 2024’s European Week for Waste Reduction, the Principality of Monaco is set to host an array of engaging events and zero-waste initiatives promoting sustainable practices between 16th and 24th November. 

The theme of this year’s European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) is “Waste is Out of Taste,” a nod to the need to reduce the vast amount of perfectly good food that ends up in landfill each year. It is estimated that more than 58 million tonnes of food waste is generated in the EU each year, a staggering 131kg per inhabitant.

Between 16th and 24th November, numerous government departments and agencies, along with the Mairie de Monaco and the Société Monégasque d’Assainissement, will be putting on a variety of workshops, events, and collections with the goal of raising awareness about this unnecessary wastage and encouraging the Principality’s population to be more conscientious.

On the agenda

The Department for the Environment, in partnership with the Department of Urban Planning, the Mairie, and the Société Monégasque d’Assainissement, has arranged for a dedicated EWWR village to be set up on the Promenade Honoré II and at the Casa d’I Soci on 20th and 21st November, from 9am to 6pm.

“Open to all, the village will have around 15 stands specially set up for this event and will host numerous activities related to waste reduction, food waste, the circular economy, repair, recycling, and raising awareness of environmental protection,” says a Monaco Government representative.

The Société Monégasque d’Assainissement is organising a number of separate events at the EWWR village, such as a Waste Frieze workshop that will allow participants to explore the life cycle of waste and reflect on the environmental impacts of its management, a free 5Rs and Sustainable Development Goals escape game, and a practical workshop to show citizens how to recycle properly in a fun, interactive environment.

The Department for the Environment is also organising, after the success of last year’s drives, a collection of undergarments and glasses. Donations can be placed, as in previous years, in the bins located outside the Fontvieille Shopping Centre.

New for this year, hairdressers in Monaco have been invited to collect and keep all hair cuttings over the last few weeks. These will soon be forwarded to the Association Coiffeurs Justes, who turn this useful natural resource into anti-pollution products.

On 23rd November, from 3.30pm to 6pm, the popular Mùnegu Repair Café event will return to the Marché de la Condamine. The Mairie-backed initiative offers visitors an opportunity to get household items repaired for free. For the first time, an outreach branch of the Décathlon brand will also be present. The team will be on hand to carry out maintenance work on bicycles requiring professional technical assistance.

Read related:

MaConsigne recycling initiative looking for new face to front campaign

Monaco Life is produced by real multi-media journalists writing original content. See more in our free newsletter, follow our Podcasts on Spotify, and check us out on Threads,  Facebook,  Instagram,  LinkedIn and Tik Tok. 

Photo credit: Stéphane Danna / Monaco Communications Department