The new climate protection law came into force on 15 December 2020 and is supposed to help implement effective climate protection measures in line with the Paris Agreement. Luxembourg intends to reduce its CO2 emissions by 55% until 2030, Ministers Caroline Dieschbourg and Claude Turmes stated six months ago. The Grand Duchy intends to become completely climate-neutral by 2050.
However, Mouveco criticises that little has happened since. In particular, the main regulations regarding implementation are still not available six months after the law came into force, effectively making it a "toothless tiger" in the eyes of the environmental organisation.
Neither the global targets for individual sectors such as transport, housing, agriculture, industry, waste and water management, nor specific objectives have so far been enshrined in law. According to Mouveco's Christophe Murroccu, every sector must take responsibility.
Murroccu stresses that this is not about singling out one sector. The law specifically mentions four to five sectors, which must undertake additional efforts.
Non-governmental organisations and Mouveco had insisted that the sectoral reduction targets should be enshrined in law, but the government and the majority parties decided to establish them via grand-ducal regulations instead. These are still not ready. According to Mouveco, zhe reasons why the targets were not already fixed in the law and why no draft regulation was presented are obvious, even if it was not acknowledged in this form: there was no consensus within the government on what contribution each sector should make.
The situation is already "alarming", Mouveco stresses, if one considers that the 2018 report of the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, foresees a ten-year window of opportunity to meet the targets of the Paris Agreements. Mouveco criticises that the government is now arguing that the delay in developing sectoral targets is "de facto irrelevant", as the various ministries have already started their work on climate protection in recent years. However, the latest EU figures show otherwise: Greenhouse gas emissions in Luxembourg rose by 1.7% in 2019. A trend that goes back to 2016.
If it remains unclear which sector has to reduce its emissions by how much, the country will not succeed in reaching the targets set. Politicians should finally clarify which sector should contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions, Mouveco demands, adding that these ambitious and necessary targets will not be achieved with goodwill, but require consistent action. Mouveco calls for a draft Grand Ducal regulation before the holidays, which can be discussed and voted on.
Mouveco commissioned a legal analysis on the question of whether a further delay due to non-compliance with the climate objectives can be brought before the courts. According to the environmental organisation, the analysis showed that legal action can now be considered.
