Two chairs facing each other at Tony Neuman Park, in Luxembourg.
Political participation at Luxembourg’s 2023 elections
The hideous amount of printed paper this past September took me back to the last time our mailbox was flooded with political pamphlets. It was only last spring when parties had the chance to make an impression on voters. For a moment, I forgot and wondered why the panels stayed over the summer, cleared out of any form of propaganda. Thus, at the second inflow of leaflets, I thought the political folks suddenly felt accountable to the voters and wished to take ownership of the progress done since the municipal elections. Political parties simply enjoyed a 2x1 promotion this year instead.
A big portion of residents were obviously not entitled to participate in Luxembourg’s parliamentary elections on October 8th, yet they were called upon to exert their political participation on occasion of the municipal elections last June 11th. Once registered, voters have the obligation to perform their duty for the municipal elections to come. With regard to the municipal elections, the number of registered voters on the electoral roll keeps steadily limited.
Little is done to reverse this trend. The letters sent out to residents, the information panels, and the video clips do not seem to make an impact. The ASTI (Association de Soutien aux Travailleurs Immigrés) suggests that it would be a great idea to automatically register foreigners on the electoral lists, “informing them that they only need to unregister if they do not intend to participate in the vote.”
Let me share some important data for your consideration — out of the total population of the Grand Duchy of 643,941 (STATEC, 8 November 2021), 52.8% (339,890 people) are Luxembourgers and 47.2% (304,051 people) are foreigners. Among the Luxembourgers, 18% (115,909 people) have a second nationality, given that the country registers a national average of 50% of foreign residents in its municipalities.
The government and parliament voted to abolish the five-year residency clause last year to allow foreign nationals to participate in municipal elections. A foreign national must still have lived in the country for six months in order to be able to enrol. The figures from the Ministry of Family and Integration and the Centre for Intercultural and Social Studies and Training reveal that 33% (75,226) of foreign nationals were unable to register on the electoral lists for the last municipal elections in 2017, because they had not lived in Luxembourg for long enough.
Panels used for Luxembourg's 2023 political elections.
Political climate science in Luxembourg
Having registered for the local elections in Luxembourg, the Sunday morning of the municipal elections, I was demanded to express my personal preference in the voting booth, by crossing the logo of a political party. That was a very precise yet not an isolated moment in time that got me thinking that climate change perhaps is nothing but a buzzword. While I do not wish to claim that the climate change actually is a buzzword, I would like to point out that there is a considerable misuse of the term.
As a foreigner myself, I still received a postcard that invited me to vote in the municipal elections in my country of origin, that curiously enough were taking place last May. The view of the postcard in my mailbox provoked a smile on my face, as the events in my hometown appear far removed from me at this time.
A party in Luxembourg (Déi Lénk; in English, the Left) promoted during their campaign the initiative to plant 10,000 trees. It certainly is a virtuous idea in line with the 3 Billion Trees Pledge proposed by the European Commission, but it is symptomatic of a myopic strategy. I believe the country is in need of an energy transition plan, rather than more trees. I feel as if every political force had the urge to include some proposition about sustainable governance in their programme, even when no real effort was put into integrated planning. I agree that urgent action is required and that we must start somewhere, but these examples have little potential for long-term policymaking in terms of sustainable growth.
Notably, Luxembourg's government plans to increase renewable energy share in the gross final energy consumption to 25% by 2030, and to 45.4% by 2040. According to the latest report from the Luxembourg Institute of Regulation (Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation, ILR), renewable production in 2022 far exceeded the level of electricity production from fossil fuels, and represented 88% of total production in 2022. In 2022, the national mix consisted of 62.6% renewable energy, 30.3% fossil fuels, 6.3% nuclear energy, and 0.8% other non-identifiable sources.
In fact, electricity production from renewable energy sources in Luxembourg reached 1,060 GWh in 2022, resulting in an increase of 6.7% from 2021. This represented 16.7% of national consumption. In terms of energy source, wind energy confirmed its status as the leading energy source in the Luxembourg production park, contributing 27% to national production. Solar energy contributed 24% to national production, followed closely by energy from biomass or waste wood, which contributed 23%. Finally, 8% of electricity produced in Luxembourg was from natural gas.
Electricity production in 2022, in Luxembourg, by the Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation.
Everybody Talks about the Weather, but does anybody do anything about it?
Back in May, I had the opportunity to visit the exhibition Everybody Talks about the Weather (May 20th-November 26th, 2023) at Ca’ Corner della Regina, now Fondazione Prada, in Venice, Italy. I was looking forward to its important output; however, my expectations turned out being unrealistic.
The show looks at ways in which meteorological events impacted on the history of humanity arguing that climate change is not a novelty to our planet, while referring to past famines as agricultural catastrophes in northern of Europe, or to the impact of the First Industrial Revolution. Each artwork — whether historical (through photographic replicas) or contemporary — was accompanied by a didactic panel: I here appreciated the attempt at storytelling using socio-environmental data analysis. In addition to some key texts made available on the ground floor, a reference library in the portego¹ encouraged the visitors to learn more about the topic.
Some reflections on the exhibition at Fondazione Prada
The climate micro-fiction by Beate Geissler and Oliver Sann was one of the highlights of the exhibition. Their How the World Ends (For Others?) [artwork no. 66] evisions multiple dystopian future scenarios, through 37 literary fragment of books and screenplays. The first typewritten page of the series tells us about the year 2022 — Richard Fleischer's Soylent Green from 1973 provides the opening lines: “By the year 2022, overpopulation, pollution, and an apparent climate catastrophe have caused severe worldwide shortages of food, water, and housing.” A set of quasi-scientific visions follows, suggesting that the future belongs to hybrids: of culture and nature, man and machine; where hope and despair are invariably coupled together.
It would be too easy to say that the curator Dieter Roelstraete pays homage to Venice, as if the inclusion of Giorgio Andreotta Calò, a Venice-born artist, in the display would secure him a meaningful contribution to the city’s cultural offer. Once again, Fondazione Prada’s capital investment in Venice confirms its defective agenda. In Calò’s Carotaggi (2014), the artist’s research findings beautifully materialise on the floor in the form of sculptural work, as per a paradigm shift. The material and symbolic stratification, exemplified by core samples, represents the ecological and social repercussions of the extractive activities of Carbosulcis S.p.A., the last company active in the carbon industry (eventually, closed in 2017) in the Sulcis-Iglesiente area, in the south-west of Sardinia.
Aerial view of the Venice lagoon.
The exhibition did not minimise or negate the current climate crisis in any way. On the other hand, it presented mere facts, without taking a stand on the subject. In Roelstraete's words: “This exhibition’s meteorological view of art suggests we continue to talk about the weather instead as one of way of thinking the unthinkable, and of giving meaning to the bodily facts of our daily exposure to the natural world that is our only home.” It is like saying one more time — I agree that urgent action is required and that we must start somewhere… Talking about it, without neglecting the ongoing status of things, already is a big step forward. Well, it is not good enough for me.
Wildfires last summer: you could blame it on climate change
Cephalonia, 23/08/2023We woke up today with an overcast sky and a wood smoke smell caused by the wildfires in Alexandroupolis, on mainland Greece. As we move north, the geography of the island, with its hills, valleys, and coastline, suggests that we are traveling against the wind which blows from the continent. The sky eventually cleared up in the afternoon, yet I know the flames are not tamed in the north of Athens.As we return south, we come across several firemen patrolling. We learn that there was a wildfire in Cephalonia only eight days before, and another one in Zakythos on Friday. I expected to experience some minor earthquakes on the Ionian archipelago, but I did not expect flames here. Now that I am here, I could not imagine this luscious greenery to be gone, burnt to the ground.
Road to Assos, in Cephalonia, Greece.
Following last summer’s events across the Mediterranean as well as in North America, I have been looking for dissenting voices who sustained that the wildfires were not due to climate change. I did so, as I have been having some doubts about the issue of #greenwashing.
Navigating information about the increase of wildfires
As per the fires in Maui, Hawaii, Katherine Hayhoe, climate scientist and Distinguished Professor at Texas Tech, declared that: “climate change doesn't usually start wildfires; rather, it intensifies them, increasing the area they burn, and makes them much more dangerous.” Research shows that changes in climate create warmer, drier conditions, leading to longer and more active fire seasons. Additionally, pollution played a role in creating an ever-hotter world, determining that wildfires have become more disastrous in the past decades, as the following have increased: the amount of land burned, the severity of the burn, the number of large fires, the length of the fire season, and the elevation at which fires are occurring. By the end of this century, under a low emissions scenario, we could see an increase in extreme wildfire events by 59%. In a high emissions scenario, this could skyrocket to a 172%.
There in fact is a link between the occurrence of wildfires in the Maui County and the invasive, non-autochthonous grasses, caused by the recent closures of sugar cane plantation. These grasses occupy nearly a quarter of Hawaii’s landmass now. The nonnative conifers that were planted in the 20th century to stop erosion and provide timber, pose additional wildfire risks. The State has also experienced the consequences of climbing temperatures in recent years: long-term declines in average annual rainfall, thinner cloud cover and drought.
The UNDRR (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) informs us that traditional burning practices are now part of Australia’s wildfire management efforts, as they help reduce bushfires. Controlled fires in small areas reduce undergrowth and dead wood, helping preserve larger trees and allowing wildlife to escape. Similarly, the Fundación Española de Renaturalización suggests that the reintroduction of horses in the Spanish highlands could mitigating the spread of wildfires. By grazing on the overgrown shrubby vegetation, the horses reduce the amount of combustible material. A herd of ten free-roaming Przewalski’s horses was introduced in May.
Information can be extremely chaotic and overwhelming, yet I did find some sources that shed some light on the issue of wildfires by explaining how climate change significantly aggravates wildfires, along with methods to contain the situation. I would not describe these voices as “dissenting” at this point. I would rather maintain that some representatives of the scientific community and key institutions on social media play an important role in popularising research material about the complex topic of climate change, providing us with an insider perspective on the occurrence of extreme events.
Starting my self-education journey by learning about the SDGs
The more I saw the term “climate change” appear on social media posts and the news, the more this lost meaning to my eyes. I felt that the term “climate change” was often used without providing much context or without backing it up with the necessary knowledge. Knowledgeable sources on social media or podcasts did not suffice. I needed to embark on my personal journey. So here is a compilation of the subjects I have been looking at ever since summer.
Delving into the topic of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) allowed me to start understanding the strategy that lies behind the 2030 Agenda. How the 17 SDGs are inspirational and adaptive (mimicking Agile methodology to some extent), just like the challenges of sustainability are complex and evolving. How they can still be translated into policy and practice. How they call for a long-term, integrated approach in connection with systems thinking, by recognising mutual interdependence. How they embed all three dimensions of sustainable development (social, economic and environmental) within their targets. While there are multiple forms of capital (natural; human; social; manufactured; financial), natural capital continues to be the main input to economy.
As undesired outcomes of a specific policy, trade-offs are necessary and inevitable yet predictable and preventable. It is important to develop an understanding of their root causes (that classify according to valuation gap; time gap; information gap; governance gap; policy gap). It is then possible to transform trade-offs into synergies, by using focused interventions and other incentives.
Seeing António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, support the cause suddenly made sense to me. On #IndigenousDay, he posted about Indigenous know-how. Given that the seventeen SDGs recognise the importance of integrating local forms of knowledge and self-determination, the involvement of local communities is key to the success of an initiative and especially shifts in attitudes, behaviours and knowledge competencies.
António Guterres' LinkedIn post on 2023 Indigenous Day.
Optimising the reporting standards of climate finance
As I acknowledged that capital investment is the driving force behind the transition not only to a low-carbon economy but also to climate resilience, my learning journey proceeded in the direction of climate finance. In particular, I gained insight into the EU Taxonomy and the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), following the 2015 Paris Agreement and the 2019 European Green Deal. The 2020 EU Taxonomy Regulation by the European Commission sets legally-binding standards at an European level for both financial and non-financial entities, for the purpose of fighting rather than unwillingly enabling greenwashing. It is to be considered as a tool that companies and financial institutions can use to evaluate the alignment of their activities with the regulation; or report on these activities in a transparent and consistent manner.
In this way, the EU aims to provide the groundwork for transition to structured and regulated sustainable finance. It is possible for entities to technically screen activities against the six environmental objectives: climate change mitigation; climate change adaptation; sustainable use and protection of water & marine resources; transition to circular economy; pollution prevention and control; protection and restoration of biodiversity & ecosystems. In this context, nuclear energy and natural gas are considered transitional activities, and direct contributors to climate mitigation. Nonetheless, until 2026, only large, listed companies and financial institutions are required to make EU Taxonomy disclosures.
The TCFD is not disconnected from the EU Taxonomy Regulation — the two systems are designed to work in tandem. The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) was established in 2015, to identify the information needed by investors, lenders and insurances underwriters to assess and price climate-related risks and opportunities. The TCFD makes extensive use of scenario analysis as a strategic tool for companies to consider the potential future that are different from business as usual, considering a 2°C or lower scenario. The principles of effective disclosures expect disclosures to be: relevant, specific, complete, clear, balanced, understandable, consistent, comparable; reliable, verifiable, objective, and timely.
Better disclosure is expected to enable more stable, resilient markets with less abrupt price adjustments, and facilitate a smoother transition to a low-carbon economy. In 2017, the TCFD released its final recommendations which included four key thematic areas, along with eleven recommended climate-related disclosures and seven principles of effective disclosures — designed to be applicable to organisations across both the financial and the non-financial sector group.
The share of Luxembourg-domiciled ESG funds
PwC Luxembourg lets us know that Luxembourg-domiciled ESG funds registered 2.2tn€ in total assets at the end of June 2022. The ESG AuM (Assets under Management) represented approximately 54.6% of the country’s overall UCITS fund assets. Luxembourg-domiciled ESG UCITS funds are relatively well-diversified in terms of asset allocation — with the Software and Services sector holding the highest asset allocation sitting at 9.7%, followed by Pharmaceuticals at 9.1%, and Capital Goods at 8.4%. The ESG investments framework equally attracts investors due to its low costs, reduced risks and diversification benefits.
ESG AuM percentage allocation to top sectors in June 2022, in Luxembourg, as per PwC.
Illai Gescheit, Partner at Siemens Energy Ventures and startup mentor, interestingly claimed that “we should use ESG to build better businesses but not to replace it with real tracking and investment in lower carbon technologies and investments.” According to him, ESG should not be used as a synonym for sustainability or social impact. The aggregate nature of ESG makes it comparable to the SDGs by a long way, as sustainable practices can be evaluated in different ways.
Felix Goltz, research director at Scientific Betaratings, agreed with Gescheit saying: “ESG have little to no relation to carbon intensity, even when considering only the environmental pillar of these ratings.” Hortense Bioy, global director of sustainability research for Morningstar, added that “investors need to think carefully about which aspects of sustainability they would like to prioritise when building portfolios: carbon reduction or a high ESG rating.” After all, it depends on the priorities of the stakeholders, as ESG regulatory benchmarks are multiple and not limited to carbon emissions.
As due diligence findings are being integrated into the M&A processes, KPMG revealed that over half of the M&A deals in the US were cancelled this year due to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) due diligence findings (following ISSB, International Sustainability Standards Board, and GRI, Global Reporting Initiative). Investors reported that the material² findings demonstrated low levels of ESG maturity and misalignment with their own ESG priorities. A lack of robust data is still reported as a major challenge.
Constant self-education is key to understanding the climate crisis
To acquire a critical perspective on the climate crisis is far from straightforward. It can be an emotional and petrifying process (view eco-anxiety). The course of future events is uncertain, not to mention climate injustice and the many inconsistencies and contradictions in the climate-conscientious choices we are confronted with in our everyday life. We cannot be indifferent to the topic. Only by demanding of ourselves to be as specific and dedicated as possible when targeting learning resources, we can gain an understanding of the subject, that requires constant learning and in-depth research. Free high-quality learning opportunities are abundant online. And, it is okay to change opinion multiple times or to divert from the original pathway. After all, fighting misinformation and greenwashing is not only up to institutions promulgating reporting standards, but also to us and our capability to self-educate.
Manhole with freshly cut grass, in Luxembourg.
¹ Portego: The portego is a key architectural element in traditional Venetian palaces. On the ground floor, it serves as an entrance hall for loading goods through the porta d’acqua, while on the upper floors (piani nobili) it is used as a reception hall with rooms located on both sides.² Materiality: Materiality is connected to the opportunities for disclosing ESG information. Greenomy states: “A matter is considered material if misinformation about it or its omission could cause users [investors] to change their decisions. […] Some believe that information disclosed by non-financial companies should not only be material for investors but for all stakeholders, including civil society, consumers, and employees. This materiality should therefore include impacts on the environment and general well-being and is usually referred to as impact materiality. The inclusion of both financial materiality and impact materiality is called double materiality.”