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Activist Raymond Klein warns Luxembourg’s consumption model unsustainable on Overshoot Day

Luxembourg has already consumed all the natural resources it can renew in a full year, according to calculations marking the country’s Overshoot Day on Tuesday, 17 February.
The date highlights the ecological strain of a consumption model heavily reliant on imports. The fuel sold at petrol stations and most products on supermarket shelves are purchased from abroad, a reality that activist Raymond Klein argues is unsustainable.

“If you have enough money, you can afford it, but that doesn’t mean it’s sustainable,” Klein said during an interview on RTL Radio on Tuesday morning. The former journalist, who now works for Action Solidarité Tiers Monde and the climate platform Votum Klima, warned that the country’s current way of life has no future.
Klein dismissed the argument that Luxembourg is too small to make a meaningful difference. If everyone thought that way, he said, nothing would ever change. On the contrary, he believes the country has significant opportunities to lead by example, pointing to its financial resources, skilled workforce, research capacity, and infrastructure.

While individuals can reconsider their lifestyles, Klein said, the country must also adjust its consumption policies, particularly in the area of mobility. He cautioned that electric vehicles are not a silver bullet, as their production still carries an environmental cost. Instead, he advocated for greater investment in public transport, cycling, and walking – habits he noted also offer health benefits.

Also today

• Junior doctors call for reform amid growing shortage
• Iran and the United States agreed to “a set of guiding principles” laying the groundwork for a broader deal during talks in Geneva today
• The LSAP has called for a fundamental rethink of the government’s asylum and migration policy, warning that current plans prioritise efficiency over humanity.
• With an estimated one in ten buildings standing empty, two environmental organisations have put forward a set of proposals they say would unlock the potential of existing structures while protecting the climate.
• A man whose teenage son shot dead four people at a US high school has gone on trial in the southern state of Georgia in a rare case of a parent facing charges over a shooting carried out by their child.
• A shooting at an ice rink in the northeastern US town of Pawtucket resulted in at least two dead and three injured, on Monday.

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Figure of the day

US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson dies at 84

• Veteran US civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson, one of the nation’s most influential Black voices, died peacefully Tuesday morning at the age of 84, his family said.
• Jackson, a Baptist minister, had been a civil rights leader since the 1960s, when he marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and helped fundraise for the cause.

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