Luxembourg Presents Climate Change Strategy & Action Plan with 152 Measures

On Thursday 7 May 2026, Luxembourg's Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity has presented the strategy and action plan for adapting to the effects of climate change.

The ministry noted that the Government Council (cabinet) adopted this plan, comprising 152 measures across seventeen policy areas, on Wednesday 22 April 2026.

According to the ministry, Luxembourg is thus preparing for the inevitable effects of climate change, aiming to increase its resilience and reduce its vulnerability to the consequences of these changes. It reported that the impacts of climate change on society, health and ecosystems are being increasingly felt in the Grand Duchy. Extreme weather events have occurred in the form of prolonged droughts, heatwaves and torrential rains causing severe flooding. Climate projections for Luxembourg in the European State of the Climate 2025 Report, published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the European Union (EU; represented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts - ECMWF), reaffirm that these extreme weather events represent the country's main future vulnerabilities.

The climate change adaptation strategy focuses on areas where additional measures are needed to address this change and includes concrete actions to counter its negative consequences and increase the country's resilience.

A total of seventeen policy areas have been identified, covering: crisis management; health; water; society; urban spaces; spatial planning; housing and construction; transport; economy; energy; soil protection; forestry and afforestation; agriculture; biodiversity; regional and international cooperation; and communication and awareness-raising.

Among the strategy's concrete measures are: strengthening operational capacity for flood response; collecting real-time data from hospital emergency departments to detect heat-related illnesses; restoring waterways to improve flood risk; greening public spaces to mitigate the impact of heatwaves on public well-being; promoting a "businesses against climate change" approach; converting unsuitable forests; and monitoring the spread of invasive alien species.

The ministry cited a participatory and transparent process. On 9 February 2026, Luxembourg's Minister of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity, Serge Wilmes, presented the results of a public consultation on the draft national strategy and action plan for adapting to climate change. Conducted in two phases between March-August 2024 and February-October 2025, this participatory process involved nearly 500 people from more than 160 organisations. The consultation yielded over 250 proposed amendments, 107 proposals for new measures, including 21 new integrated measures and 28 strengthened existing measures, as well as the addition of a new chapter dedicated to education and awareness.

Following the cabinet's adoption of the plan on 22 April, the full text is now available on emwelt.lu. Abridged versions, translated into English and German, will be published before summer 2026.

"Reducing our emissions remains essential, but it is not enough. Adapting to climate change is now equally necessary to protect the population, infrastructure and the environment, in line with our energy, nature and resilience policies. The implementation of these measures, ensured by all relevant ministries, will be the decisive step in sustainably strengthening Luxembourg's resilience to climate change," Minister Wilmes stated.