Joëlle Welfring, Luxembourg's Minister of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development; Credit: MECDD

On Monday 12 December 2022, Luxembourg's Minister of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development, Joëlle Welfring, presented the current status of the Nature Pact ("Naturpakt") and launched a related call for projects for more nature in Luxembourg's cities and villages ("Méi Natur an eise Stied an Dierfer").

"The Nature Pact is an important instrument that supports the municipalities in their efforts to make the ecosystems more diverse and resilient, including the urban space", stated Minister Welfring.

The Nature Pact, launched in 2021 by Luxembourg's Ministry of Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development, has witnessed strong demand. The pact aims to protect Luxembourg's natural resources in collaboration with the country's municipalities and to make local ecosystems more resilient, including in urban areas.

Currently, 86 municipalities have already joined the Nature Pact. Each year, these municipalities receive a "participation subsidy" of €10,000, as well as 250 hours of advice provided by Nature Pact advisors. Most of the municipalities are currently in an initial phase, during which an inventory is carried out based on the catalogue of measures of the Nature Pact. This state of affairs must then (and during the first year) be confirmed by an audit. Like the Climate Pact ("Klimapakt"), the Nature Pact provides for four levels of certification that municipalities can achieve depending on their performance in relation to the catalogue of measures. Municipalities that reach more than 40% of the possible points benefit from a certification subsidy.

Eight municipalities have been certified so far and these municipalities, as well as all the ones that will be certified as "Naturpakt Gemengen" by the end of March 2023, will receive their symbolic reward during an official ceremony as part of Nature Pact Day ("Naturpaktdag") in April 2023.

As an entity that ensures the operational aspect of the Nature Pact, the map showing the committed and certified municipalities is kept up to date by Klima-Agence on the website dedicated to the Nature Pact: www.pactenature.lu.

The Environment Ministry recalled that recent weather events in Luxembourg (e.g. a heatwave and drought in 2022, torrential rain and floods in 2021) are all signs that the Grand Duchy is not spared by climate change and that it is important to support municipalities in their commitment to adapt to this change through nature-based solutions.

The call for "more nature in our cities and villages" projects as part of the Nature Pact is addressed to all municipalities and has the following objectives:

  • to create new green spaces in urban areas on heavily sealed and/or mineralised sites;
  • to contribute to adaptation to the effects of climate change;
  • to increase the quality of life of residents;
  • to promote biodiversity in the urban environment;
  • to demineralise sealed spaces and re-vegetate them.

It is divided into two phases, as follows.

Phase I:

  • 15 March 2023: Deadline for sending candidate preliminary projects;
  • April-May 2023: Evaluation of the preliminary projects;
  • May 2023: Selection of candidate preliminary projects to be developed.

Phase II:

  • May 2023-May 2024: Detailed project design;
  • June 2024: Allocation of the selected detailed projects and implementation of the projects.

The Environment Ministry emphasised that this call for projects explicitly targets the redevelopment of public squares and schoolyards and that it is 90% co-financed by the ministry's climate and energy fund.

Further information on the call for projects is available online at: www.emwelt.lu.