Principality of Monaco national contribution
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
- 29 July 2015 -
1. Preamble (click here)
The Principality of Monaco is a city state of 203 hectares. Its diversified economy is based primarily on services, construction, tourism and the banking sector. It is an enclave of France, located 10 kilometres from the Italian border.
The topography of the Principality comprises a mountainous cirque dropping down to the Mediterranean Sea. The country’s entire territory is urbanised, and forms the centre of an economic urban area which also includes neighbouring French towns.
The resident population is 37,000, while a further 40,000 people cross the border every day to work in the Principality.
Since his accession in 2005, H.S.H. Prince Albert II has made protecting the environment a priority of his Government’s policy, at both the national and international levels.
The Principality of Monaco ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 20 November 1992 and the Kyoto Protocol on 27 February 2006.
Having signed up to Annex 1 of the Convention with a commitment to reduce emissions by 8% compared with 1990 during the first period of the Kyoto Protocol, the Principality has fulfilled its obligations, reducing emissions by 13.18% compared with 1990.
Monaco continued its commitment by agreeing to the Doha Amendment on 27 December 2013. The country’s target for the second period of the Kyoto Protocol is to reduce emissions by 22% on average over the period 2013–2020.
At the Climate Summit convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations on 23 September 2014, H.S.H. Prince Albert II recalled the target that the Principality of Monaco set itself to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, compared with the reference year, while achieving carbon neutrality by that date.
Aware that the challenge of reducing emissions is very much a collective one, the Principality of Monaco would like to offer its full support to the joint effort. The country’s hope is that through the commitment of all Parties, it will be possible to achieve the target consistent with restricting the average rise in global temperatures to less than 2°C compared with pre-industrial levels, and if possible, to less than 1.5°C.
