Monaco IQ was privileged to be present at the 2nd annual award ceremony of the Fondation Prince Albert II.

Around 2000 invited guests took their seats on Saturday evening to recognize the efforts of three leading international figures to help save the planet. The awards reflected the three focus areas of the Fondation Prince Albert II: climate change, biodiversity and water.

Brazilian Marina Silva was presented with the climate change award for her work supporting the Amazonian rain forests. Between 2004 and 2007, when she was a Senator, deforestation decreased by 59%. The second award, for biodiversity, was given to Harvard Professor Edward Osborne Wilson, who accepted the award in a live transmission from the USA. He told us about his new project, the Encyclopedia of Life, which hopes to index every known species. Finally, Pan Yue, China's Vice Minister of Environmental Protection was awarded for his contribution to water conservation by tackling some of the largest industrial polluters in China.

In addition to the three focused prizes, two special awards were presented. The first of these went to Jacques Perrin, co-director (with Jacques Cluzau) of the film which was shown before the awards ceremony. Entitled Oceans, the movie is a spectacular documentary of life in the seas of the world, and contains breathtaking photography. A final award was presented to the British economist Nicholas Stern, author of the 2006 Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change, who stepped up to the podium and urged us to act immediately if we are to avoid the catastrophic effects that climate change will bring about by the end of the century.

On the same evening, the foyer of the Grimaldi Forum was buzzing with excitement for the auction of the Eco Art Parade Eagles. In total, the 55 birds raised more than 600,000 euros for the Fondation Prince Albert II to continue in its efforts to save the planet.