The Principality of Monaco takes part in the 68th IAEA General Conference

Ms. Isabelle Rosabrunetto, Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, H.E. Mr Lorenzo Ravano, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Monaco to the IAEA in Vienna (on the left), and Mr Andrea Colombo-Pastorelli, Second Secretary at Monaco’s Embassy in Germany. ©DR

A Monegasque delegation[i] led by Ms Isabelle Rosabrunetto, Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, took part in the work of the 68^th General Conference[ii] of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), held in Vienna from 16 to 20 September 2024.

In her speech, Isabelle Rosabrunetto praised the Agency’s efforts to preserve the safety and security of nuclear facilities in Ukraine with the deployment of the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission particular in Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ).

She also stated that “the Principality of Monaco attaches particular importance to the Agency’s activities in the peaceful use of nuclear science and technology for sustainable development and the protection of the marine environment”. Monaco has hosted the IAEA Laboratories, initially designed as a three-year programme to monitor radioactivity at sea and its impact on marine life, since 1961. The programme now covers a range of activities related to the marine environment, mainly in the fields of research on marine radioactivity and pollution, as well as climate change and its effects on the oceans.  

 The Director-General also recalled that “the Agency’s activities in the fight against marine pollution caused by plastic waste resonate with the personal commitment of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II to preserve the oceans”. In 2021, the IAEA launched the NUTEC Plastics Initiative (Nuclear Technology for Controlling Plastic Pollution), in which Agency’s Marine Environment Laboratories in Monaco play a central role by providing technical assistance in the establishment of a network of more than 60 laboratories around the world, aimed at ensuring effective monitoring of plastic pollution in the marine environment and demonstrating that ionizing radiation can be used in the recycling of plastics.

The IAEA is providing valuable support in the implementation of the Global Plastic Pollution Treaty.

Ms Rosabrunetto concluded by reaffirming the importance of the scientific application of nuclear technology in human health. One example was ‘Rayons d’espoir’, an IAEA initiative in the field of cancer screening and management which is supported by the Principality.

[i] The Monegasque delegation comprised Isabelle Rosabrunetto, Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, H.E. Mr Lorenzo Ravano, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Monaco to the IAEA in Vienna, and Mr Andrea Colombo-Pastorelli, Second Secretary at Monaco’s Embassy in Germany. 

[ii] The aim of the conference is to set out IAEA’s work for the coming year and to adopt resolutions on nuclear safety and security, the verification regime and safeguards, and the Agency’s work on peaceful use of nuclear science and technology.