Among the leaders with a Mediterranean coastline none have been campaigning so successfully as Prince Albert of Monaco.



Since becoming Soverign of Monaco, Prince Albert has let it be known that the environment is a major concern of his, and early on in his reign made a visit to the North Pole to highlight global warming, and he has established a foundation to study among other things, ironically sea temperatures.

Rising sea temperatures is seen as a major contributor to the ice caps melting, and is seen as a controversial part of the green campaign on climate change as some scientists argue that sea temperatures would take hundreds of years to rise as a direct result of human activity. Quite what Prince Albert will make of the findings on his own doorstep isn't known yet.

The Mediterranean waters off Monaco caused concern four years ago in 2003 when the water temperature reached 28 degrees centigrade - 82 degrees farenheit - but this year saw temperatures cool considerably to 23 centigrade in July and 24 in August. Two other warm years apart from 2003 were 2001 and 2006.

Commenting on the findings, a local Monaco travel guide states 'There doesn't appear to be a consistent rise over the years in the water temperatures, and they vary year by year, sometimes rising, sometimes falling - which would appear fairly natural rather than anything that could be seen as particularly alarming with a need for action. Should temperatures rise consistently for a few years in succession perhaps that would indicate something really is going on in the Mediterranean around Monaco.'

An example of Monaco taking the environment seriously is the annual Monaco Yacht Show. To attain carbon neutral status last year, the organisers sponsored various projects in Europe and further afield to offset carbon emissions generated by the show. The show paid for wind turbines In New Zealand, generating enough electricity for 45,000 homes and in Brittany France paid for a heath to be planted with chesnut and oak trees to protect water catchments and provide a recreational area, while in the USA paid for a methane capture system, reducing the amounts being emitted by some 95 per cent.

The leadership for the move to a greener State has come from Sovereign Prince Albert, who has been successfully campaigning among world leaders since his inauguration two years ago to move the environment up the political agenda, and it has brought the issue to the fore at home.

Prince Albert signed the country up for the Kyoto Protocol shortly after becoming Sovereign, and a few months later left behind the comfort and glamour of his palace and Casino Square for the wilds of Antartica to see for himself the damage being caused to the glaciers because of global warming. Upon his return he established the foundation with his own money to study the impact of rising sea levels, and since then has been active in the attempts to publicise the need to cut CO2 emissions in the industrialised world.

This year he has met both Prince Charles and (before the French elections) President Chirac of France to discuss global warming. Close to the Fontvieille harbour where the yacht show takes place, a new island is to be built, and the bidders have been told that a successful application must be environmentally friendly, and some proposals indicate that the island will be a floating one to avoid any disruption or damage to marine life.

Prince Albert has been active at the UN too, and is involved with a campaign to plant a billion new trees which is being welcomed by environmentalists. But like the sea temperatures, that hasn't been without controversy either, with a warning by some that in certain regions it could do more harm than good. While the campaign claims that each tree uses up 26 pounds of co2 emissions and in return produces enough oxygen for a family of four, planting the right trees is important to help the world improve her ecological and environment balance.