First meeting of the Environment Council

©Direction de la Communication / Michael Alesi

The Environment Council met for the first time on 30 November 2020. Marie-Pierre Gramaglia, Minister of Public Works, the Environment and Urban Development, said: “I’m delighted with this first meeting of the Environment Council, which has fulfilled its role in every respect, issuing informed and collective opinions on important draft environmental regulations for the Principality to ensure that the Environment Code is operating as effectively as possible.”

During this first plenary session, the following six draft regulations proposed by the Department of the Environment were submitted to Council members for review:

-              Managing waste and reducing it at source: this involves codifying existing regulation to incorporate it into the Environment Code and continuing to strengthen measures aimed at achieving “zero single-use plastic waste by 2030”, with new bans on products that produce waste, specifically targeting those that produce the waste most commonly found in the environment and which can be easily replaced by more eco-friendly products, and making it easier to consume in more environmentally responsible ways.

-              Air quality: this involves regulating procedures for monitoring air quality and setting maximum thresholds for various atmospheric pollutants for pollution incidents and thresholds to be pursued over the long term to make a sustainable improvement in the Principality’s air quality. 

-              Grants for photovoltaic energy: the regulation codifies this grant in the Environment Code and opens up the possibility of awarding it to third-party investors in a bid to increase the amount of photovoltaic electricity generated in the country.

-              Grants for roof insulation: the regulation establishes a grant for insulating roofs and sets out the conditions for awarding it and the amounts that can be allocated. This grant complements the approach begun with grants for replacing single-glazed windows intended to help owners to quickly and substantially improve the energy efficiency of their property in order to reduce energy consumption in the country.