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