Monaco Ocean Week, the Principality’s big blue event, takes place from
18 to 22 March 2024. As every year, ocean conservation will be the order
of the day.
Monaco has a long-standing commitment to protecting the ocean, an issue
of fundamental importance for the Principality. It dates back to the late 19th
century and Prince Albert I, nicknamed “the Sailor Prince”, and is still going
strong to this day, thanks to H.S.H. Prince Albert II’s personal devotion to
the environmental cause.
Ocean conservation remains a major issue for sustainable development.
That’s why numerous Monegasque entities, including the Prince’s Government, the
Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco,
the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, and the Yacht Club de Monaco have joined
forces to organise Monaco Ocean Week.
Monaco is a signatory to several agreements on the ocean, such as the
the 1976 RAMOGE treaty between France, Monaco, and Italy to protect
Mediterranean coastal waters. The Principality was also one of the first states
to sign the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982. The
creation of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation in 2006 served to
strengthen those commitments, and led to a number of major projects in Monaco
and around the world.
Monaco Ocean Week is therefore an event fully in line with Monaco’s environmental
commitments. It brings together local and international scientists and
environmental experts, NGOs, non-profit organisations, and representatives of
civil society, to discuss ocean conservation issues and other more general
topics, in workshops, lectures, exhibitions, and screenings, many of which are
open to the public.
H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco has called Monaco Ocean Week “a unique
forum for dialogue, meetings, experiments, and openness."
Previous editions have seen a number of initiatives come to fruition,
including Monaco’s Manifesto for the Ocean, published and signed by the
Sovereign Prince with the governments of France and Italy, and the agreement
creating the headquarters of the Pelagos Sanctuary.
In addition, Ocean Week does much to raise public awareness about one of
the big challenges of the 21st century.
写真クレジット:
Benjamin Vergély / Monaco Ocean Week / Jean-Marie Liot / DR / F. Dhermain