Environmental activists from Votum Klima marked Overshoot Day with a symbolic race in Luxembourg City, highlighting the country's alarming rate of resource consumption, estimated to be the second highest in the world.
The Votum Klima platform, a fusion of multiple charities in the environmental sector, launched a symbolic action to draw attention to the earth's plight this week, highlighting the Grand Duchy's performance and contribution to Overshoot Day. This event marks the day that the global population's resource consumption exceeds the planet's capacity to produce natural resources over the span of a year, which falls on 1 August in 2024.
A dozen activists gathered at the Geesseknäppchen school campus in Luxembourg City, assembling at the sports track before the press in order to run a race marking Overshoot Day. One of the runners donned a red lion costume to represent Luxembourg while another represented the planet.
Magali Paulus, the Votum Klima coordinator, said the circuit represented the year from 1 January until 31 December: "It's about depicting how the year unfolds with all our planet's available resources."
The Red Lion runner did not pass the date of 20 February on the circuit, which is the day when the Grand Duchy's consumption theoretically exceeds the available resources proportionally provided by the planet. "We are now seeing how many of the effects of climate change are temporarily affecting vulnerable populations, particularly in the global South and in countries that bear no responsibility for climate change, and we need to redress the balance."
With its national Overshoot Day on 20 February, Luxembourg is in second place worldwide, just behind Qatar. However, the ranking is nothing to be proud of, even if Luxembourg's position is somewhat unusual in this regard. Greenpeace's Fréderic Meys explains: "Luxembourg's case is a little unusual compared to other European countries due to the high level of cross-border mobility. There are many people living abroad who commute to work in Luxembourg, which impacts the country's consumption. Another element which plays a major role is fuel tourism."
At an international level, industrial agriculture is one of the main causes of environmental problems. At the national level, it is mainly consumption that is not sustainable enough, both at the individual and systemic level.
