March for the Earth 2025: "our power, our planet people and planet at the heart of our priorities

March for the Earth 2025: "our power, our planet" people and planet at the heart of our priorities

Luxembourg, April 23, 2025

Yesterday, April 22, 2025, more than 150 people gathered in Luxembourg City to send a clear message: the real emergency is climate changeand it's no longer time for half-measures a profound and fair transformation of our society. In response to a call from more than twenty from civil society, including CELL, Greenpeace Luxembourg, ASTM, Kliko, Amnesty International Luxembourg, Ecological Movement, Brothers of Men, OGBL, Youth4Planet and Seniors for Climate, thea Walk for Earth 2025 took off from the Place de l'Europe in an atmosphere of determination, warmth and collective action.

Public testimonials: the human element at the heart of the emergency

The starting point was no coincidence: the event began on the Place de l'Europea highly symbolic site, located facing the French Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity.

As underlined by Anna Topliyski from CELL : "It was important to do it here, symbolically, in front of the Ministry. Occupying this place also meant giving a voice to the stories of climate change. We know they exist - they're statistics, sometimes alarming figures - but we often forget that they're about people like us, very close to us."

Even before the start of the march, the Place de l'Europe was transformed into a living climate museumThe event featured a number of citizens sharing their experiences of the climate crisis through poignant stories, emotionally-charged objects, letters, poems and images. This moment of sharing continued on arrival at the Place Guillaume IIduring a symbolic ceremony, where dozens of people listened to these testimonials and discovered deeply human stories, revealing thethe concrete impact of climate change on our daily lives.

Among the testimonials was that of Esmeralda, a jome woman qhe shared his experience of the floods in Verviers, Belgium. " This event was a turning point for my mental health " she confided. "Thousands of people were left homeless or forced to live in deplorable conditions: mould, no electricity, no heating or hot water"

A student of Venice recalled the brutality of a storm that submerged more than 80% of the city. " The next morning, the city seemed unreal, silent, disturbed only by the sound of warning sirens.. In the days that followed, the streets were littered with rotting furniture and destroyed appliances; craftsmen, booksellers and residents tried desperately to salvage what could still be salvaged."

Marie-Béatriceambassador of the European Climate Pact, share :  " Our house in Luxembourg, on the banks of the Alzette, flooded in 2021. The following year, the Verdon canyon, which feeds the lake near our family home, dried up completely." Two events that had a profound effect on her "I now observe birds, trees and insects with a form of anxiety, afraid of seeing them disappear."

Returning to her native Luxembourg after twenty years abroad, Nadège was saddened to discover that the silent disappearance of insects that once populated his garden of infinite diversity. "I'm desperately looking for that life that used to animate our flowers, our vegetables, our trees... But the insects have flown away, leaving behind them a void." she recounted, her voice full of emotion.

These are just a few of the stories that, throughout the walk, have given body and humanity to what we all too often observe from a distance.. With sincerity and courage, the testimonies reminded us that the climate crisis is not just a matter of shocking figures and abstract projections it's already affecting our lives.

A march for justice and transformation

Carrying placards created during the early afternoon art workshops, participants walked through the city to the Place Guillaume IIchanting calls to :

• an accelerated phase-out of fossil fuels,
• global climate justice that recognizes the disproportionate impact on people in the South,
• a fair, inclusive transition,
• a firm commitment on the part of industrialized countries to the COP30.

The Earth March 2025 also denounced, through its slogans and speeches, wrong answers to the crisis: the rise of climate populism, l'the illusion of all-technologyand the security drift to the detriment of international cooperation.

Greenpeace board member Marc Cascant pointed out that "Climate catastrophes don't strike at random: it is often the most vulnerable populations that pay the heaviest price.. " In the Valencian region, for example, working-class neighborhoods have been hardest hit, with few resources to help them recover. In the face of these injustices, he reaffirmed the urgency of a just ecological transition, which places people and the planet at the heart of priorities: "We demand ambitious policies to reduce emissions, strengthen infrastructures in the face of extreme climatic events, and guarantee climate justice for all."

A participant in the march shared the same observation. Asked "Why are you here?", she replied: "I think it's important to be here, especially in front of the Ministry of the Environment. This ministry must push for action: firstly to prevent these disasters, by preserving ecosystems and reducing greenhouse gases, but also by preparing emergency plans so that, if they happen, we're ready."

A broad, intergenerational mobilization

Families, young people, workers, activists, committed citizens: all generations were represented at the March for the Earth. The diversity of voices present shows that in Luxembourg, too, commitment to climate justice transcends divisions and becomes a common cause.