Environment and climate change

In the context of a global climate emergency, which became even more acute in 2019, Luxembourg has maintained its commitment to combating climate change, including through its development cooperation. This commitment is crucial, because people in the countries of the South, who contribute the least to the harmful effects of climate change, are often the ones most affected. Indeed, as extreme weather becomes more frequent, there is a considerable impact on people who depend directly on agriculture and coastal activities, who do not have the resources to protect themselves from extreme heat waves or who have less resilience to the prolonged periods of drought and devastating floods that are becoming more frequent.

Climate change also has an impact on respect for human rights, particularly for the most vulnerable populations, by exacerbating existing inequalities. Environmental issues, especially gender equality, are also closely linked, because, in the face of a crisis, girls and women are the first to see their existence threatened, particularly through an increase in early school leaving, early marriages or gender-based violence.

Seeking to comply with the principle of additionality in international climate financing, in 2019 Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation continued its mainstreaming approach to the issue through each of its cooperation projects and programmes. Luxembourg’s Cooperation’s approaches to environmental/climate mainstreaming will be taken further by developing a strategy that is consistent with the OECD recommendations and Luxembourg’s objectives in terms of combating climate change.

Finally, the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs participated in the 2019 Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change with a view to further networking at the international level.