On the occasion of Luxembourg’s Overshoot Day, which falls on Tuesday 17 February 2026, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has said it is sounding the alarm over excessive resource consumption in Luxembourg and its impact on the planet and global health.
Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity's demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. Each country also has its own overshoot date based on its consumption patterns, with Luxembourg typically falling among the earliest worldwide (second after Qatar again this year).
MSF explained that its awareness-raising initiative aims to highlight how excessive resource consumption in Luxembourg contributes to growing pressure on the planet, compounded by increasingly frequent extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts and storms, which already have serious health consequences, particularly for the most vulnerable populations worldwide.
According to the organisation, through its programmes across many regions, MSF has already observed that millions of people are experiencing severe health impacts linked to the climate emergency, MSF added that the climate crisis is already a health crisis.
“We see the effects every day in the different places where we work, and people living in vulnerable situations are the most affected - precisely those who contribute the least to greenhouse gas emissions. These communities are paying with their lives and their health for a crisis they did not create,” highlighted María Guevara, MSF Medical Secretary.
MSF also highlighted its joint awareness campaign with Greenpeace Luxembourg, launched last year, which highlights the direct link between climate change and human health under the message: “We cannot be healthy on a sick planet.”
