Luxembourg City mayor Lydie Polfer has rejected claims that she opposes further greening of the capital, after remarks made last week, during the country's severe heatwave, were widely interpreted as dismissing calls for more trees and shade in the city's largely paved public spaces.
Polfer now says her comments referred specifically to Place de Paris and the need to preserve open areas for public events.
"Of course I didn't say that, because it is the exact opposite of what we are doing", Polfer stated. She added that it was simply not possible to claim that she opposed greening.
Polfer said the city had commissioned a specialist firm to develop the strategy two years ago. Initial findings were delivered last year, followed by the full greening strategy and action plan in early June, which the authorities had planned to present this week.
According to Polfer, "no municipality has a more comprehensive greening strategy than Luxembourg City".
She also noted that the capital had received gold certification under the European Climate Pact. Of the 30,000 additional trees due to be planted across the city, 14,000 had already been planted, according to Polfer.
However, the most important element was the new greening strategy and its accompanying action plan, the mayor said. Polfer stressed that the greening strategy is due to be presented to the relevant committee on Wednesday before being unveiled to the public.
City councillor Christa Brömmel of The Greens (déi gréng), meanwhile, criticised the authorities for having delayed climate adaptation measures for too long.
A vegetation strategy had already been discussed in March, she said. She added that it was now the end of June, the first heatwave had passed, and residents had suffered. What was needed, Brömmel argued, were concrete measures that were incorporated into projects from the outset.
Brömmel pointed to the recent redevelopment of Rue Notre-Dame near the Casino as an example, describing the climate-adaptation measures there as "laughable, truly laughable", and arguing that the few trees placed in planters were nowhere near sufficient.
Climate change was not something that had only become known about this year, Brömmel said.
Alongside climate adaptation measures, substantial investment in climate protection also needed to continue, she noted. The Luxembourg City Greens are calling for building regulations to be amended so that residents are not prevented from installing heat pumps.
"We really need to reduce CO2 emissions. We cannot focus solely on adapting to climate change", Brömmel concluded.
