Signing of pact took place at the Monaco City Hall earlier this week
The Monaco City Council signalled its commitment to the National Energy Transition Pact this week, as Mayor Georges Marsan put pen to paper on the landmark agreement at City Hall. The ceremony took place on Monday 8th October 2018 and was witnessed by Marsan’s deputy Marjorie Crovetto-Harroch, the Minister of Public Works Marie-Pierre Gramaglia and the Director of the Mission for Energy Transition (MTE) Annabelle Jaeger-Seydoux, among other notable dignitaries.
The move brings realisation of the Pact’s goals one step closer to fulfilment. First published in March last year, the Pact delineates two key objectives of the Monegasque community with regards to its environmental obligations. First, the Pact’s proponents hope to halve emissions of greenhouse gases within Monaco by 2030 from 1990 levels. Secondly, they aim to achieve carbon neutralisation across the Principality by 2050. The first signatory of the Pact was HSH Prince Albert II and more than 500 others have followed in his wake, with the Mayor being the most recent high-profile addition.
“I feel pleased and proud to welcome all parties to this special event which will reinforce the links and synergies among different stakeholders in order to carry out environmental actions promoted by the Municipality,” said Marsan on Monday. The Pact hopes to accomplish its ambitions through three main areas: a more environmentally-friendly transport infrastructure, renewable sources of energy and a recycling-orientated waste management system. A number of new initiatives are currently being tabled, including separation of paper and plastic within all Monegasque offices, the opening of the first building with self-sustaining energy and automated air conditioning systems throughout the Principality.
In her time as Public Works Minister, Gramaglia has already attempted to introduce several other green measures geared towards achieving the Pact’s ultimate goals herself, including the commissioning of electric coaches on two long-distance lines in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) region. She also lent her voice to Marsan’s at Monday’s signing: “This agreement sends a strong signal to the whole Monegasque citizenship, with whom the Municipality has always been directly bound, in order to make the Pact not a symbolic document, but a real effort which allows each of us to reflect on the climate change caused by gas emissions and act against it.”