Luxembourg Ecological Movement Calls for Concrete Climate Action

Mouvement Ecologique asbl, a Luxembourg environmental movement, has called for concrete action following the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference (COP26) in Glasgow.

The movement recognised that Luxembourg, like several other countries, spoke out in favour of ambitious climate measures at COP26. However, its actions should match its words. The association recalled that whilst CO2 emissions per capita are decreasing somewhat in Luxembourg, population growth is contributing to an overall increase in emissions.

Consequently, Mouvement Ecologique has presented five instruments which it deems necessary in order for Luxembourg to achieve its climate goals. Every day for one week, the movement will address a specific demand to the outside world. These include:

1. No more tax money for environmentally harmful projects

The movement argued that tax concessions for private transport, "controversial" subsidies in the agricultural sector and building new roads, among other environmentally harmful activities, "must be a thing of the past". The association lamented that Luxembourg has failed to follow the example of other European countries which have already carried out an in-depth analysis of the sectors in which money is "wrongly invested", for instance in the context of Luxembourg's controversial pension fund (fond de compensation). The movement has thus called on the Luxembourg government to "submit such a study, put it up for discussion and implement it immediately".

2. A secure social system without growth constraints

Mouvement Ecologique also called on the government to "assume its responsibility" and, before the end of the legislative period, "put an analysis on alternative forms of financing for the social system on the table and initiate gradual implementation". The association noted that the financing of the Luxembourg welfare system is currently dependent on economic growth and an increasing number of people and employees. It warned that "constant growth on a limited planet is not possible", citing issues such as traffic congestion as examples of this in Luxembourg.

3. No law and no project without sustainability check

The movement argued that, for at least fifteen years, respective government coalitions in Luxembourg have promised a sustainability / climate check for important decisions. So far, this has not materialised. And yet, the movement maintained that such an instrument is of "fundamental importance" in determining whether the various ministries' decision-making processes take into account the goals of climate and biodiversity protection, among others. The association has thus urged the current government to present said sustainability and climate check and put it up for discussion immediately.

4. Adjust the livestock population to the usable area

In the course of increasing industrialisation and intensification, an increasing number of animals are being kept and stables are getting bigger, but the pastures are not, warned the association. This then leads to the over-fertilisation of fields and meadows and a high level of nitrate pollution in the water. Importing this forage also has a negative climate balance and promotes the cultivation of huge monocultures and the destruction of forests in other countries, the movement continued. As such, it has called for livestock to be linked to the area that is available nationally and for a significant reduction in the import of fodder.

5. An ecologically and socially just tax reform

The movement noted that Luxembourg is currently at the bottom of the list when it comes to taxing environmental pollution / consumption. The environmental tax revenues in Luxembourg are particularly low compared to other European Union (EU) countries; in 2014 they only contributed 5.25% to the total tax revenue, although the proportion has been steadily declining since 2004. Consequently, Mouvement Ecologique has demanded that the Luxembourg government "immediately put calculations and suggestions for a systematic tax reform on the table, in which concrete suggestions about the various compensation mechanisms are also put on the table". The association also asked that, almost a year after the introduction of the CO2 tax, the government present tangible figures about the income from said tax and the use of this money, as well as a gradual increase in the tax in the medium and long term.