Mouvement Ecologique Urges Luxembourg Government to Prioritise Climate Protection

On Tuesday 2 September 2025, the local non-profit organisation Mouvement Ecologique issued a statement calling on the Luxembourg government to make climate protection a real priority.

The organisation recalled that, at the beginning of August 2025, Luxembourg's Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity had presented its preliminary 2024 climate balance sheet.

While the ministry reported that Luxembourg had successfully met its overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets, the Mouvement Ecologique argued that "Luxembourg is not on track". The organisation accused the ministry of trying to "gloss over this situation in recent press statements" and described this as "irresponsible", warning that it "delays the energy transition and climate protection that are so urgently needed - also from an economic perspective".

The non-profit organisation acknowledged that Luxembourg's total emissions were below the target but stressed that the country was only meeting sectoral emission targets in mobility and agriculture.

"In the key sectors of buildings and industry, as well as in wastewater treatment, we are failing miserably to achieve the necessary reductions in greenhouse gas emissions," the statement read. "Even worse: the 'reduction gap' compared to the planned reduction path has not been reduced in recent years, but has steadily increased".

The Mouvement Ecologique noted that industrial emissions have exceeded the targets every year since 2021 - and were 38.5% higher in 2024. Similarly, emissions from wastewater treatment were 2.1% below the annual target in 2021, but have exceeded it every year since, reaching 9.2% above in 2024.

In the buildings sector, temporary crisis- and weather-related reductions were observed in previous years, but emissions deviated more sharply from the planned reduction path in 2024 (11.6%) compared to 2021 (10%). According to the organisation, these developments are "lagging far behind" the reductions planned by the integrated national energy and climate plan (PNEC) compared with 2005.

Between 2005 and 2024, reductions "fell far short" of targets compared to 2005: industrial emissions actually rose by 21%, while emissions in the building sector decreased by 19% - less than a third of the target. By 2030, "very significant" reductions (-65% in industry, -45% in the building sector) would thus be necessary, according to the Mouvement Ecologique, which described the situation as "absolutely untenable".

"If the government in general and the ministry now act as if this highly problematic situation can be resolved by crunching the numbers, they are deliberately ignoring the necessary climate protection targets and applicable law," the organisation stated. "There is no getting around the fact that Luxembourg must adhere to its sectoral targets in these areas in the medium and long term, and not - as recently stated by the Ministry of the Environment - ​​revise them downwards because they are described as 'partially overly ambitious' or inconsistent with more recent STATEC projections".

According to the Mouvement Ecologique, the existing targets are "essential" for climate protection and are "only overly ambitious if the political framework is lacking". The organisation argued that STATEC projections are "merely the result of the political framework: if these improve in terms of climate protection, these calculations will also be different".

Moreover, the statement emphasised that "the protection of future generations requires the climate neutrality of our society by 2045 at the latest; therefore, it is unacceptable that certain sectors of activity continue to deviate from the norm, and politicians even try to justify this".

The organisation said it "categorically opposes any attempt to question the targets based on scientific necessity".

It went on to call for binding political measures: "The political framework must now be established so that we can meet our European climate protection commitments, especially in the industrial and building sectors. Otherwise, the progressive restructuring and adaptation of these sectors cannot succeed!"

"Every lost year means that the missing reductions must be made up in ever shorter time - with significantly higher social, ecological and economic costs. With every year of hesitation, the task becomes more difficult and painful," it said. "If we fail to reduce emissions in all sectors now and initiate a reversal [...] the negative consequences will be significant. How can decarbonisation then be achieved by 2045?"

The Mouvement Ecologique has thus called on the Luxembourg government "to take consistent action to implement the necessary measures that ensure a real reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in all sectors and a gradual restructuring of existing structures", concluding that "only binding and clear targets can provide the necessary planning security and pressure for innovation that will enable sectors with greater inertia to contribute to the transition with new solutions."