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An “Oceano for All”: school projects in line for €5,000 prize

by: Stephanie Horsman
13/01/2023

Monaco’s Oceanographic Institute initiative to promote ocean protection has rallied 600 schoolchildren around the world with a competition to launch awareness projects. The winning concepts are in line for €5,000.  

The Oceano for All competition, or Oceano Pour Tous, has reached out to 25 schools in Monaco, France and further afield, calling on students to think creatively about ways to improve the environment, notably with regard the seas, in line with the international goals. 

The event has been held since 2014, in collaboration with the Fondation Princesse Charlene, the National French Education body and the Department for Education, Youth and Sports in Monaco, but has been previously reserved for older pupils. Now it is speaking to middle schools within the goal of inspiring awareness and action amongst the younger generation.  

“With Oceano for All, we support young people in the realisation of collective projects in connection with the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations,” says Robert Calcagno, Director General of the Institute. “It’s about training and supporting the citizens of tomorrow in their commitment to the ocean!”  

The selected schools, of which Monaco’s College FANB and College Charles III are participants, are benefiting from specialised workshops in scientific and cultural mediation throughout the school year on pertinent topics as well as from videos, quizzes and thematic papers to help them on their journey.  

“In order for students to become true ambassadors of the ocean and to be able to realise their projects, we are going to offer innovative and interactive tools on the discovery of ecosystems and their biodiversity, understanding of the role of the ocean in climate regulation, and analysis of the impacts of human activities,” says Tiziana Caporale, the head of the institute’s Activity and Education department. 

The competition is currently in its first stage, which runs until 30th March, during which the students define and set up their projects. On 31st March, they will be expected to have a video and presentation prepared to submit.   

From 11th to 19th April, a panel of jurists will choose the most impactful projects. Finally on 13th June, an award ceremony at the Oceanographic Museum will be held to publicly recognise the winners.  

Prizes are a two-day stay in the Principality and two grants of €5,000, which will be given to the winning classes.  

“With the aim of inspiring the commitment of other young people, the Oceanographic Institute will also offer support to all classes to help them achieve their long-term projects,” say organisers.  

 

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Photo source: visitmonaco.com

Strikes ahead: Transport and energy industries join mass protests against pension reform

by: Elsa Carpenter
13/01/2023

France will grind to a halt next week as workers across the country – now joined by those from the transport and energy sectors – strike against the government’s planned reforms to its pensions system.  

Thursday 19th January will see some of the most pervasive strikes in France in recent years as thousands, if not millions, of workers protest against the recently unveiled proposals to overhaul the French pensions system.  

Within hours of the announcement by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Tuesday 10th January, eight of the country’s biggest unions had declared their intentions to go on strike, and now they have been joined by workers from the transport and energy industries.  

Oil refinery workers, which include those from TotalEnergies and Esso-ExxonMobil, have announced a series of increasingly disruptive strikes – 24 hours of action on 19th January, 48 hours from 26th January, and a 72-hour walkout from 6th February – that could replicate the mass shortages and queues at petrol stations experienced across the country just a few months ago. 

A collaborative statement from the unions representing SNCF rail workers (CGT, UNSA, SUD Rail and CFDT) has revealed their position of “total opposition to the increase in the legal retirement age to 64 years”, although their role in the strikes is yet to be confirmed. The CGT-RATP has said, for its part, that the objective is to ensure there is “zero transport” on the first day on industrial action.  

Many workers in both the energy and transport sector have traditionally benefited from “special regimes” that allow them to retire earlier than other occupations. This will end if France’s proposed plans make it through parliament.  

Rumours that teachers, hospital staff and even those within the Ministry for Foreign Affairs may walkout next week have also begun to spread. 

 

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Photo by Monaco Life

Monaco rescue last-gasp draw at Lorient

by: Luke Entwistle
13/01/2023

AS Monaco were looking to right the ship after a premature Coupe de France exit and looked on course to do so. However, they depended on a late Wissam Ben Yedder to salvage a point.

Philippe Clement’s men went into Wednesday’s match against FC Lorient at Le Moustoir with consecutive Ligue 1 victories under their belt. However, after their shock cup exit at the hands of Ligue 2 strugglers Rodez, Monaco needed to bounce back.

It was the Principality side that went closest early on. Mohamed Camara tried his luck from long-range and his thundering effort struck the crossbar. Monaco would become unwillingly acquainted with the woodwork during this encounter and would strike it twice more before the final whistle.

Terem Moffi had a huge chance for Lorient, who are only two points behind Monaco in sixth, but from close range, he couldn’t beat the imposing figure of Alexander Nübel. Les Monégasques then looked set to have a glorious opportunity to open the scores when an opportune Breel Embolo intercepted a backpass, drawing a foul from former Monaco player Vito Mannone.

However, after a long consultation with VAR, the decision to award a penalty was overturned for an offside in the build-up. The Swiss striker did get on the scoresheet in the second half, showing strength and composure to work a shooting position in the box before drilling low to Mannone’s right.

Axel Disasi almost doubled the lead, but struck the crossbar with his header. Just minutes later, Lorient had their equaliser through Dango Ouattara, and then just two minutes after that, Les Merlus were ahead thanks to Moffi.

Monaco were shellshocked, but continued to push to restore parity. It looked like it wouldn’t be the Principality side’s night when Youssouf Fofana hit the crossbar with a curling drive, but in the dying seconds, Ben Yedder latched onto an Ismaïl Jakobs cross to secure an important point.

Post-match, Clement made it clear that he believed that his side deserved more.

“I think we deserved to win the match. I am happy with the reaction of my team after the two goals were conceded and the bad luck that we had this evening,” said the Belgian manager.

 

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Photo by AS Monaco

Introducing ‘This Week in Monaco’, a weekly Podcast by Monaco Life

by: Cassandra Tanti
12/01/2023

Didn’t get a chance to read all the news that we published this week? Then listen to ‘This Week in Monaco’, our new Podcast where we talk to the journalists behind the headlines.

In this edition of This Week in Monaco, we talk about:

  • The impact of France’s pension reform
  • The dangers of hunting season
  • Auction fever hits Monaco
  • Top investments for 2023
  • The next phase of Monaco’s digital transition
  • The Paris-Nice cycling race
  • The latest AS Monaco football news

Total time: 18 mins.

 

 

Get ready: French unions plan widespread protests over pension reform

by: Elsa Carpenter
12/01/2023

Within hours of plans to shake up France’s pensions system being unveiled, unions had called for mass strikes. Economists, meanwhile, say books need to be balanced to protect young workers.  

Amid a raft of proposals to change France’s out-dated pensions system, the most wide-reaching is the intention to up the minimum retirement age to 64.  

This currently sits at 62, increased from 60 by former president Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010. Even now, it remains one of the lowest in the industrialised world and at the bottom of the table in Europe, alongside Greece, Slovakia and Sweden.  

Immediately after the announcement of the plans on Tuesday 10th January by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, the leaders of France’s biggest and most influential unions had assembled at the Bourse du Travail headquarters in Paris to refute the government’s overhaul of the system and call on their members to participate in mass national strikes next week, on Thursday 19th January. 

But the first date in what is likely to be weeks if not months of union action, the CFDT, CGT, FO, CFTC, CFE-CGC, UNSA, FSU and Solidaires are firm in their opposition. They have demanded that the government withdraw the proposed increase in retirement age and the acceleration of the Touraine reform enacted by another former president, François Holland, which would see the contribution period required to access a full pension to 43 years.  The goal is simple: “to make the government yield”.

It is the first time in 12 years that all major unions have come together under the same banner.  

“The fact that all the unions are united shows the extent of discontent of employees,” said the general secretary of the CGT union, Philippe Martinez, at a press conference following their discussions. 

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, France’s pensions system costs the country almost 14% of its economic output. It is also a convoluted and complex system, involving 42 state-supported schemes with differing age limits and contributions. 

As it stands, the average pension is equivalent to 74% of a salary earned at the age of retirement.  It is a generous system, but one that economists say enriches senior citizens while draining money from the country’s youngest workers.  

In an interview with France 3, a former Bloomberg economist and now director of the Brunswick Group, Maxime Sbaihi, argued that the current system isn’t working.

“The poverty rate is the lowest among retirees and the highest among the youngest. Today’s poor are young people starting out in working life, single women, students who can be seen queuing for food banks… Conversely, those over 65 receive a minimum [monthly] payout that is 60% higher than the RSA (a work welfare benefit for those out of work or with a low income) and guaranteed by the state whether or not they have contributed [to the pensions system]. It is a very powerful safety net, which does not exist for those under 25,” he told the outlet.  

Sbaihi said pensions rose faster than wages in 2022 and criticised a system that puts pressure on France’s youth “who are already inheriting a phenomenal public debt, who must settle the issue of global warming [and] who no longer have access to housing” to carry the heavy financial burden of increased contributions.  

Meanwhile, Nicolas Marques, the general director of the Molinari Economic Institute, has said that with “only 1.7 contributors per retiree, compared to four in the 1950s”, it is difficult to balance the books of the pensions system.  

“Working longer appears to be the least painful lever to facilitate the financing of the CNAV (Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Vieillesse), because France has already increased contributions considerably,” he told France 24, adding that the state pension pot has been unable to escape a deficit in the system for more than 40 years due to the baby boom phenomenon in the post-WWII era.  

 

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Photo source: Koshu Kunii for Unsplash

Rise in ocean temperature levels causing dire consequences

by: Stephanie Horsman
12/01/2023

In 2022, ocean temperatures around the world were the warmest ever recorded, according to the latest studies by an international team of scientists, a trend that will have serious repercussions on the planet. 

The case for the effects of climate change grows stronger with each passing year. Greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities are altering the very patterns that the world’s population counts on to keep us going, yet little is being done to reverse the damage being inflicted. Such is the case with the oceans.   

Sea surface temperatures have a huge impact on the world’s weather, and the warmer the oceans, the stronger the storms are. Hurricanes, typhoons and other major storms are becoming more frequent, leading to flooding and unusual rain patterns that threaten coastal cities and contribute to rising sea levels.  

A team of ocean scientists have collected global data and found that last year saw the hottest sea temperatures recorded since the start of record-taking in 1958, an event that they believe is leading us toward a dire outcome.  

“The Earth’s energy and water cycles have been profoundly altered due to the emission of greenhouse gases by human activities, driving pervasive changes in Earth’s climate system,” an excerpt from the study revealed.   

The data also showed that La Niña made her presence known for the third year running. La Niña is the name of the climate pattern that describes the cooling of surface-ocean waters along the tropical west coast of South America. La Niña is the counterpart to El Niño, which is characterised by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean. When that returns, the sea temperatures will be pushed even higher.   

“If you want to measure global warming, you want to measure where the warming goes, and over 90% goes into the oceans,” Professor John Abraham from the University of St Thomas in Minnesota, who was a member of the study’s team, said. “Measuring the oceans is the most accurate way of determining how out of balance our planet is. We are getting more extreme weather because of the warming oceans and that has tremendous consequences all around the world.”  

Professor Michael Mann from the University of Pennsylvania, also part of the team, added that, “Warmer oceans mean there is more potential for bigger precipitation events, like we’ve seen this past year in Europe, Australia, and currently on the west coast of the US.”  

2022 is also expected to be the fourth or fifth hottest year on record for air temperatures; signs that all is not well on the planet.   

 

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Photo source: Johannes Plenio for Unsplash