Climate change adaptation: schools integrated into the national plan

“Strengthening climate, environment and health education in the school curriculum” is one of the new measures in the draft strategy and action plan for adapting to the effects of climate change. On 9 February, at the Cercle Cité, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity, Serge Wilmes (CSV), presented the results of the public consultation and the changes made to the document unveiled on 7 February 2025, which proposed 131 adaptation measures. The government is announcing the integration of 21 new measures, the strengthening of 28 existing measures and the addition of a chapter devoted to education and awareness.

The ministry links this addition to feedback from the public consultation and to the need to prepare the population for climate risks. The government aims to strengthen understanding of the links between climate, environment and health, and to build early reflexes at school in response to heatwaves, floods and droughts. The plan includes a revision of the school curriculum, stronger non-formal environmental education and a greater integration of nature in schools, to connect nature, soils, agriculture and climate-related crises.

The minister places adaptation as a shared responsibility and says: “It is not our role, as a government, to bear this responsibility alone. We were elected, but we want to do it with society. Climate change is not inevitable, it is not destiny.” He links this approach to the complementarity between mitigation and adaptation and adds, “Reducing our emissions remains essential, but it is not enough.”

500 participants and 160 organisations

The ministry is setting the strategy within a participatory process structured in several stages. An interministerial consultation and bilateral consultation phase will take place between March and August 2024 and will result in a preliminary draft. A public consultation then runs from February to October 2025 and combines a press conference, information campaign, seven themed workshops, five regional public meetings and an online consultation.

The representative of the French Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity, Bruno Alves, describes a broad mobilisation and cites “nearly 500 participants” from “more than 160 organisations, administrations and companies”. The ministry lists “more than 250 proposed textual amendments”, the majority of which are included in the revised version, as well as “107 proposals for new measures” assessed by the relevant ministries according to their relevance, feasibility and coherence.

Bruno Alves links the strategy to impacts that are already noticeable and cites three: extreme heat events, floods and droughts. He explains that adaptation concerns households, institutions, businesses, public finances and the insurance sector. He sums up the approach with a phrase repeated during the conference: “The solutions, we can develop them together.”

21 new measures incorporated into the draft

The government has retained 21 new measures and spread them across several sectors, including local governance, health, water, urban planning, the economy, forests, biodiversity, communication and education. The ministry is also strengthening 28 existing measures and indicates that some proposals refer to actions already underway.

Crisis management and communes

4.1.10 Creation of a “risk reduction” budget heading in the local authority budget.

4.1.11 Creation of a “communal resilience” pact.

4.1.12 Provide decentralised reception and accommodation centres for the affected population in the event of an exceptional situation.

Health

4.2.9 Surveillance of non-communicable diseases amplified by the effects of climate change.

Water

4.3.16 Recovery of sewage sludge.

Society and town planning

4.4.5 Promote energy renovation in schools, care homes and hospitals.

4.4.6 High resolution bioclimatic analysis for Luxembourg.

4.4.7 Reducing gender inequalities in relation to climate change.

Urban spaces

4.5.7 Publication of a practical guide to greening urban spaces.

Economics and Finance

4.9.7 Work with insurance companies to better quantify the damage and consequences of climate disasters.

Forestry and biodiversity

4.12.9 Building on science to understand how trees respond to new climatic conditions.

4.12.10 Compensation for game damage to regeneration forests.

4.14.8 Implementation of the Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR).

Communication and awareness-raising

4.16.7 Creation of an exchange platform for monitoring measures.

4.16.8 Promoting experiences in nature.

4.16.9 Develop a risk culture to prepare the population.

4.16.10 Encourage and support young people’s commitment and move to action for the climate.

4.16.11 A tourism offer adapted to extreme weather conditions.

Education

4.17.4 Strengthening non-formal environmental education.

4.17.5 Revising the school curriculum.

4.17.6 Strengthening climate, environment and health education in the school career pathway.

Next steps

Minister Serge Wilmes has announced that the draft will be finalised editorially, followed by presentation to and adoption by the Council of Government. The Ministry is planning a summary version for the general public, in the form of a brochure.