Credit: Ali Sahib, Chronicle.lu
As the member states of the Council of Europe gather for the Committee of Ministers meeting in Luxembourg this week, three local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have demanded that the Grand Duchy "assume its responsibilities" in terms of the right to a healthy environment.
On Wednesday 14 May 2025, activists from ASTM, Fairtrade Lëtzebuerg and Greenpeace demonstrated in front of the European Convention Centre Luxembourg (ECCL) to call on the Luxembourg Presidency and European governments to immediately open negotiations for the adoption of a legally binding additional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights. For the three organisations, it is essential that "Luxembourg assume its responsibilities and initiate this process before the end of its presidency, as the triple crisis of climate, biodiversity and pollution seriously compromises the guarantee of fundamental rights and freedoms in Europe and beyond".
ASTM, Fairtrade Lëtzebuerg and Greenpeace have accused the majority political parties and the Luxembourg government of "hampering democratic debate on this fundamental right". They added that, "in an international context where threats to the right to a healthy environment are increasing, it is particularly worrying to see Luxembourg shirking its responsibilities within the Council of Europe".
"Despite its stated commitments on the international stage, the country adopts a diplomatic position marked by numerous contradictions," the NGOs claimed, adding that Luxembourg had supported a new resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council last month concerning the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The NGOs argued that "this position contrasts with the attitude adopted at the national and European levels: after referring the motion tabled on 18 March in the Chamber of Deputies [Luxembourg's parliament] on this subject to a parliamentary committee, the meeting scheduled for 7 May was cancelled the day before without explanation". For the NGOs, such actions confirm that this "essential" issue "does not appear to be a political priority".
They recalled that despite several years of discussion within the Council of Europe on the need for a binding legal instrument, no mandate to open negotiations has yet been adopted. "Without one, recognition of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment remains blocked," the NGOs said. They added that all Council of Europe member states had "firmly committed to 'actively' considering formal recognition of this new right at the national and European levels" at the Reykjavik Summit in 2023. "By delaying the opening of these negotiations, the Luxembourg Presidency and European governments are demonstrating significant inconsistency," the NGOs argued.
They later recalled that, on the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the Council of Europe, on 5 May 2025, the United Nations experts and special rapporteurs called on the Committee of Ministers to begin negotiations for an additional protocol, which is deemed essential to "protect the lives, health, livelihoods, cultures and dignity of present and future generations."
ASTM, Fairtrade Lëtzebuerg and Greenpeace have thus urged Luxembourg and the Committee of Ministers "to listen to the demands of the public, science and the justice system" in this regard.
