Environmentalists are warning that revising climate goals sends the wrong message, after the Environment Ministry called certain reduction plans too ambitious.

The association Mouvement écologique has once again sharply criticised the government for neglecting the national climate target and thereby endangering the transition.

In a letter, the organisation expressed renewed dissatisfaction with the CSV-DP government's climate policy, following recent statements from the Ministry of the Environment on radio 100,7 regarding the national climate balance. Among other things, the ministry suggested that the targets for reducing CO₂ in certain sectors were too ambitious.

Mouvement écologique rejects this position. By 2030, greenhouse gas emissions in the Grand Duchy should be reduced by 55% compared with 2005. To now call these targets into question would be problematic, says Marc Krier of Mouvement écologique: "The targets are also based on a scientific analysis, which means that this is what would still enable us to maintain the 1.5°C target of the Paris Climate Agreement."

Luxembourg did in fact meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets last year, for the fifth consecutive year, as the Ministry of the Environment emphasised at the beginning of August when publishing the provisional balance.

However, this achievement was only visible in global terms, stresses the Mouvement écologique. In the transport sector, the situation looks relatively good, with around 11% fewer CO₂ emissions last year than had been foreseen. The picture is different, however, for small and medium-sized industrial companies, where levels are 38 percent above the threshold.

"By 2030, 65% of emissions would still have to be saved there, that is in four and a half years. That is practically almost impossible to achieve, but if you then dissolve it, you really convey the wrong signal and say you also do not need to do as much anymore, because we are doing that now in another area and that is a problem", says Krier.

Krier says that constantly revising the targets delays CO₂ reduction, as necessary changes and innovations are postponed. By 2030, the transport sector might be performing well, but he warned that structural changes in other areas could be neglected or mishandled, undermining a successful transition for society and the future.

According to Mouvement écologique, discussions must not drag on much longer. The government must act, and climate protection must be given priority in all sectors.