The European Energy Award certification

On Friday 14 November 2014, Ms Marie-Pierre Gramaglia, Minister of Public Works, the Environment and Urban Development, received the European Energy Award certification from Mr Walter Steinmann, President of the European Energy Award Forum and Director of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.

The European Energy Award (EEA) certification is a recognised benchmark in Europe, bringing together eight European countries, including Monaco, alongside four pilot countries. Today, nearly 40 million people live in a territory participating in the process, across more than 1,200 urban communities.

The EEA certification aims to certify the quality of environmental policy implemented within a territory and to provide tools for sharing experience and guidance drawn from policies implemented by other States/communities.

More broadly, this certification supports the Prince's Government:

• In implementing the main objectives of Monaco's Energy and Climate Plan:
  • Securing the Principality's electricity supply
  • Improving building energy efficiency by 20% by 2020 compared with 2006
  • Achieving 20% renewable energy as a proportion of total energy consumed in Monaco by 2020 
  • Meeting greenhouse gas emission reduction targets: -30% emissions by 2020 (compared with 1990); -80% emissions by 2050; carbon neutrality by 2050 (i.e. offsetting residual greenhouse gases)
• In its strategy to anticipate and mitigate the effects of climate change in Monaco by involving all relevant stakeholders

EEA certification of the Energy and Climate Plan marked the culmination of a certification process initiated in 2010 by the Government under the impetus of H.S.H. the Sovereign Prince.

Beyond certification, Monaco is committed through the EEA to a process of continuous improvement in support of proactive environmental policy.

Following a baseline assessment carried out in 2012, government departments conducted numerous participatory workshops throughout 2013, bringing together all stakeholders involved in the energy and climate initiative. The outcomes of these workshops enabled the definition of an action plan comprising 55 actions covering the following 6 areas:

• Territorial planning
• Heritage
• Communication and cooperation 
• Internal organisation
• Energy, water and sanitation supply
• Mobility

2014 is the first year of implementation of this action plan, which will be rolled out and enhanced over the next four years, the duration of EEA certification. This process will be driven and coordinated on an annual basis through thematic workshops and steering committee meetings.

On 13 and 14 November 2014, Monaco hosted the Annual General Meeting of the EEA Forum, at the end of which the EEA certification was awarded to the Prince's Government.