French residents and visitors can now exchange damaged euro banknotes for new ones free of charge through the Banque de France.
The service covers banknotes that are torn, stained, partially burnt or otherwise unusable, with no monetary limits and no fees. The exchange process is available through banks or directly via the central bank.
Two exchange options available
Account holders can take damaged notes to their regular bank, which will handle the exchange process. Alternatively, people can approach the Banque de France directly through two channels.
The first is visiting the Caisse de Paris branch, where physical attendance is required. Only adults can conduct transactions, though they may deposit notes for third parties including businesses. Damaged banknotes undergo expert examination, with authentic notes exchanged on the condition that more than 50% of the original surface remains intact.
The second option involves participating post offices that partner with the Banque de France. Customers complete a dossier, attach their damaged banknotes and provide supporting documents. La Post forwards applications to the central bank for processing.
Post office submissions are limited to €5,000 per dossier, requiring multiple applications for larger amounts.
Documentation required
All applicants must provide valid identification and bank account details showing the beneficiary’s IBAN. Legal entities need official registry documents or extracts dated within three months, with individual representatives named on corporate documentation and presenting their own ID.
Proof of fund origins may be required, though this isn’t mandatory for postal applications. Acceptable documents include recent income tax assessments, bank statements, or certified cash withdrawal confirmations.
The service aims to maintain public confidence in France’s currency system while providing practical solutions for accidental damage.
The Mediterranean Sea is in the grip of an exceptional marine heatwave this week, with surface waters in some areas edging towards 30°C — a level not seen since the infamous 2003 heatwave.
According to Mercator Ocean International, part of the EU’s Copernicus Marine Service, July 2025 already recorded remarkable anomalies. The average surface temperature across the Mediterranean reached 26.68°C, covering 95% of its waters, with 40% of the basin heating by at least 2°C above the seasonal average.
In parts of the western Mediterranean near Spain, and in the central basin around Italy, sea surface temperatures have already breached the 30°C mark, more than 5°C above normal. Such extremes are destabilising marine ecosystems, disrupting reproduction cycles, and threatening species from seagrass meadows to tuna populations.
The surge in sea temperatures follows a sequence of back-to-back marine heatwaves in recent years, each linked to climate change. The Mediterranean has been warming at an accelerated rate, with scientists warning it is now one of the fastest-heating seas in the world. In August 2024, median surface temperatures reached 28.9°C in some parts of the basin — around 2.7°C above normal — peaking at 30.8°C off the Côte d’Azur.
This summer’s marine heatwave compounds the effects of intense land-based heatwaves sweeping across Europe, with southern France among the worst affected. Scientists note that both Europe and the Arctic are warming more than twice as fast as the global average, intensifying extreme weather events on land and at sea.
For Monaco and the surrounding Riviera, the trend carries particular significance. Warmer waters threaten the delicate balance of marine biodiversity in the Pelagos Sanctuary, while also impacting local fisheries and coastal economies. With water temperatures still climbing, the coming days could see new records — and stark reminders of the Mediterranean’s vulnerability in a rapidly changing climate.
The Grimaldi Forum’s acclaimed exhibition Monaco and the Napoleons: Intertwined Destinies will mark Napoleon Bonaparte’s birthday this week with special guided tours and themed activities, offering visitors an even richer experience of this unprecedented collection.
Running until 31st August, the exhibition features more than 180 artworks, rare historical documents, and personal objects belonging to the Emperor and those closest to him. From Napoleon’s iconic bicorne hat to the intricate mechanical songbirds that fascinated 19th-century audiences, each piece tells part of the story of a man who, as Stendhal once wrote, has become “no longer a real person today, but a legendary figure… the only true one.”
The display brings together treasures that have never before been shown side by side, including portraits by celebrated artists François Gérard, Jacques-Louis David, Antonio Canova, Jean-Baptiste Isabey, and Carle Vernet. For the first time, visitors can view these masterpieces alongside artefacts that illuminate the links between the Emperors of France and the Princes of Monaco — connections that shaped both dynasties and contributed to the creation of Napoleon’s enduring legend.
On Wednesday 14th August, the museum’s Happy Hours will feature a special English-language guided tour at 6pm, accompanied by a few surprises. The following day, 15th August, Napoleon’s birthday will be honoured with themed English tours at 12pm and 4pm, offering deeper insight into the life, legacy, and myth of the first Emperor of France.
With many works on display to the public for the very first time, Monaco and the Napoleons is a rare chance to step inside an extraordinary chapter of European history before the exhibition closes at the end of the month.
Swiss endurance swimmer Noam Yaron entered his third day in Mediterranean waters, maintaining progress on his second attempt to complete a 180-kilometre swim from Calvi, Corsica to Monaco without leaving the water.
The 28-year-old began the swim on Monday morning at 8am and had covered more than 45 kilometres within his first 16 hours. By Tuesday morning, he had completed approximately one-third of the planned route.
Second attempt after 2024 withdrawal
Yaron’s first attempt ended on 25 August 2024 after 48 hours when his support team withdrew him due to adverse weather and strong currents. He had covered 100 kilometres, including 75 kilometres in a single day.
“The next few hours are going to be tough; it seems like the wind is picking up and not in the right direction,” he said during that attempt to Monaco Life.
For this second attempt, the athlete is banking on better preparation, having learned from his first experience. Like dolphins, hypnosis, which he has been practising for several years, will enable him to rest while swimming. He will also use weather forecasts to optimise the route and avoid counter-currents.
Conservation mission
The aim of the record-breaking swim is to raise awareness about Mediterranean marine conservation. “The Mediterranean Sea is very close to my heart,” Yaron told Monaco Life previously. “For me, doing all these challenges is a way to actively spread awareness and collect funds to create an impact in the long term”
The Mediterranean has lost over half its marine species in two decades, with only 0.23% of waters under meaningful protection.
Prince Albert II has followed the project, which includes a fundraising platform where supporters can purchase symbolic cubic metres of water for €5 each. “The goal is to gather people around the cause and to be a part of something big,” Yaron said.
Yaron’s progress can be tracked in real-time at calvi-monaco.com
The Monaco Smart & Sustainable Marina Rendezvous will return to the Yacht Club de Monaco on 21st and 22nd September, marking the event’s fifth edition.
Organised by M3, a Monaco-based marina consulting firm specialising in sustainable development, the conference aims to connect entrepreneurs and startups with established industry players including marina developers, architects, investors and projects promoters.
Previous editions have drawn nearly 250 participants from 26 countries, with attendees including marina project promoters, managers, shipyards, startups, manufacturers and shipowners.
This year’s programme will feature around 50 startups and scale-ups alongside 20 marinas and architectural firms. The focus remains on developing practical solutions for sustainable marina operations.
The two-day format is designed to showcase sustainable initiatives from participating startups, marinas and architects, with organisers focused on tangible outcomes and the promotion of international industry innovation.
Registration is currently open for the September event.
Interested parties can establish contact either via email: info@m3monaco.com or telephone +377 97 98 41 82.
As delegates in Geneva battle over the terms of the world’s first global plastics treaty, a new independent initiative from The Lancet is set to hold governments and industries to account — no matter what happens inside the negotiating rooms.
The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics, unveiled on 5th August to coincide with the opening of the resumed fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2), is the first long-term global monitoring effort dedicated to tracking the human health impacts of plastics across their entire life cycle.
For Professor Philip Landrigan of Boston College — one of the initiative’s architects, and a long-time collaborator with the Centre Scientifique de Monaco and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation — the timing is deliberate. “This will be an accountability mechanism — parallel to the treaty but separate from it — that tracks progress, or lack thereof, in addressing the plastic crisis,” he told Monaco Life’s Cassandra Tanti. “Even if negotiations stall, the world will still know the truth.”
A treaty in the balance
INC-5.2, which concludes on 14th August, is widely seen as the decisive round in a process launched by the United Nations Environment Assembly in 2022. The goal: to create a legally binding international instrument to end plastic pollution in all environments, with protection of human health embedded in its mandate.
The stakes are high. Negotiators are grappling with whether the treaty will regulate plastics across their entire life cycle — from fossil fuel extraction and manufacturing to chemical composition, use, and disposal — or take a narrower approach focused on waste management. One of the most contentious issues is whether to impose a global cap on plastic production, backed by over 100 countries but opposed by major oil-producing and plastics-exporting nations.
For Landrigan, the breadth of the treaty is critical. “Plastic production has increased 250-fold since plastics came on the market in the 1950s. It is projected to double again by around 2040 and triple by 2060. If you think we have a lot of plastic in the world today, you haven’t begun to see what’s coming. That’s why a cap is essential.”
He believes the treaty also needs robust chemical regulation, full transparency on what goes into plastics, adequate financing for low-income countries, and legally binding enforcement mechanisms. Without those, he warns, “then the treaty is just empty paper”.
Professor Phillip Landrigan,
A proven model for accountability
The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics draws inspiration from the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, launched nearly a decade ago. That earlier initiative shifted the global climate conversation by documenting the health consequences of climate change and making them impossible to ignore in UN negotiations.
“In climate, the health frame helped move the discussion from abstract molecules and greenhouse gases to the real impacts on human health,” Landrigan explained. “We intend to follow these models in launching the Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics.”
The new Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics will monitor four interconnected domains, beginning with emissions, tracking hazardous releases across every stage of the plastic life cycle, from production through to disposal. It will also examine exposures, measuring environmental and biological concentrations of plastics, including micro- and nanoplastics, as well as the chemical additives associated with them.
Alongside this, it will assess the health impacts, documenting disease and death linked to plastics and their chemical components. Finally, it will follow interventions and engagement, from laws and policies aimed at reducing exposure to public awareness and societal action on the issue. Indicators within each domain will be chosen through a rigorous, multidisciplinary process, combining existing evidence with new data collection and analysis. Working groups will be led by global experts in each area.
“This will be an independent mechanism — parallel to the treaty but separate from it — that tracks progress, or lack thereof, in addressing the plastic crisis,” said Landrigan. “It’s about equipping the world with the facts.”
Following plastics from cradle to grave
One of the Countdown’s defining features is its full life cycle approach.
“Ninety-nine percent of plastics are made from fossil fuels — gas, oil, or coal. The plastic life cycle begins with fracking, drilling, or mining. Then fossil carbon is turned into raw plastic, fabricated into products, used — where people are exposed to plastic and its chemicals — and finally disposed of, burned, landfilled, recycled, or shipped to low-income countries, where it accumulates in beaches or massive dumps,” Landrigan said. “When considering the hazards plastics cause to human health and the environment, you have to look at the entire life cycle — not just one stage in isolation.”
The chemical dimension is especially alarming. Of more than 16,000 known chemicals used in plastics today, many are toxic — linked to cancer, brain damage in infants, hormone disruption, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and reduced fertility. Yet 75% have no publicly available toxicity data.
“In my view, putting chemicals into plastics without testing — or without publicly disclosing the results — is irresponsible,” he said. “The treaty must close this loophole.”
Funded but fiercely independent
The Countdown’s independence is a point of pride. It is principally funded by the Australian philanthropic Minderoo Foundation, with additional support from Boston College, the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Heidelberg University, and The March Foundation in conjunction with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. None of these funders will have influence over its findings or their publication.
The governance structure includes a steering committee, working group co-leads, an advisory board, and dedicated staff for project management and outreach. Over time, its membership is expected to expand, with careful attention to expertise, geographical representation, and gender balance.
Beyond statistics: the human toll
Landrigan, a paediatrician and epidemiologist, is clear that numbers alone will not win the argument. “We’ll track production statistics, levels of plastic chemicals and microplastics in the environment, and levels in human blood and urine. We’ll monitor the health effects of plastics, estimate how much disease and death they cause each year, and calculate the related economic costs,” he said.
“But data have to be connected to human stories. Plastics are not just an environmental issue; they’re a public health crisis. We see plastics in people’s blood and breast milk. We see microplastics crossing the placenta. These exposures are happening to all of us, every day, often without our knowledge.”
A long view in a short-term world
The Countdown will publish its first major report in September 2026, about 14 months after launch. This will establish baseline data and the first set of indicators. Updates will follow every one to two years.
“This is a decades-long commitment,” Landrigan said. “We’re not here for one news cycle or one conference.”
Geneva’s moment — and the road ahead
Back in Geneva, the negotiations remain fraught. Bracketed text — the sign of unresolved disputes — still fills key sections of the draft treaty. Some delegations fear that without compromise on production caps, chemical controls, and financing, the agreement will be too weak to stem the rising tide of plastic pollution.
Yet for Landrigan, the very existence of the talks — and the Countdown’s launch alongside them — marks a turning point. “It’s encouraging. More than 100 nations are calling for a plastics treaty, and many want it to include global production caps and science-based chemical regulation. Yes, opposition is fierce — especially from the fossil fuel and plastics industries — but as Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.’ We’ve seen this with climate change. Industry denial turned to reluctant acknowledgment, then to international agreements like the Paris Accord. Progress is slow, but we’re moving in the right direction. I think plastics are following the same trajectory, just a few years behind.”
Whether INC-5.2 delivers an ambitious text or defers the hardest decisions, the Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics will begin its work. Its reports will serve as both mirror and measure, reflecting the scale of the problem and the adequacy of the world’s response.
“You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” Landrigan said. “And now, we’re going to measure plastics, their chemicals, and their health impacts — relentlessly. No one will be able to say they didn’t know.”
