…. was the title of the conference with Mathias Binswanger, one of Switzerland’s most influential economists.

Who doesn’t wonder why more of our appliances are not being repaired? A variety of initiatives, including repair cafés, are actively engaged in this field. Additionally, an important concept is the “repair bonus” offered by municipalities. Mouvement Ecologique made detailed suggestions to the communes, how to introduce  such a bonus on a local level – so please call on your local authority if you think such thing is needed!

If you didn’t have time to sow wildflower seeds in autumn, now is your second chance to get active. In March and April – preferably when a few days of rain are forecasted – you can sow your wildflower seeds, or even just create a wildflower strip. The wildflower seed mix for Luxembourg was created by the Nature Conservation Syndicate SICONA and the Natural History Museum, together with biological stations and other partners. The seed mix is mainly produced by Luxembourg farmers – entirely without the use of pesticides.

Recently, Mouvement Ecologique and Oekozenter Pafendall had an exchange with Minister Martine Hansen and representatives of the Directorate for Consumer Protection about the ministry’s role and the possible introduction of a national repair bonus.

According to our information, parts of the Luxembourg hunting community are in favour of lifting or reversing the ban on fox hunting. In the opinion of the Mouvement Ecologique, this ban must be maintained without any ifs or buts, as there are simply no technically sound arguments for hunting this predator again.

The Mouvement Ecologique recently had a promising first exchange with Minister Lex Delles.

Remember: Last year, Restopolis, the structure responsible for school canteens, partially revised its purchasing policy. Much more emphasis is to be placed on purchasing organic and regional products. The project – called supply4future (S4F) – is currently being trialled at 13 schools. The aim is to expand the project based on the experience gained in the participating pilot schools.

The financing of the pension system currently requires considerable growth. The Mouvement Ecologique is fundamentally convinced that these growth rates are not sustainable. However, the question arises as to whether they are even realistic from an economic point of view. The Mouvement Ecologique has therefore commissioned the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) to analyse the extent to which these assumptions are at all plausible.

In a recent position paper, the Mouvement Ecologique put forward concrete proposals for implementing a central provision of the new legislation on waste.

Over 35 years ago, Mouvement Ecologique introduced the sticker “No Advertising, Please.” According to estimates, over 50% of private mailboxes used such a sticker, preventing approximately 23,600 trees from being cut down over the years.

It is already clear that the 2024 Autofestival, which started this weekend, will (once again) feature ever larger, ever heavier cars. This also applies to electric cars. This government set out to drive forward the energy transition and therefore also electromobility with more socially selective subsidies, among other things.

Advertising may only be distributed to households in Luxembourg from January 2024 if residents expressly express this wish by placing a corresponding sticker on their letterbox. The Mouvement Ecologique expressly welcomes this change, as well as the fact that the post office is providing households with ready-made stickers for this purpose.