High Council for Sustainable Development (CSDD)

Conseil Supérieur pour un Développement Durable (CSDD)

High Council for Sustainable Development (CSDD)
18, Montée de la Pétrusse
L-2918 Luxembourg
LUXEMBOURG
Tel. +352 478 6823
Fax: +352 478 6835

Current and Future Activities

Establishment and Mission

Council Members and Staff Members

Working Style

List of Selected Publications

Current and Future Activities

Present and Future Priority Fields

Comments on the sustainability of Luxembourg's current development model against the background of the economic, social and ecological challenges (ongoing work);
Ecological Footprint;
Development of indicators for wellbeing.

Past Priority Fields

Energy policy: increased use of biomass. Advice requested by the Minister for Environment;
Sustainability of public finance (delivered to the Parliament in the end of 2008);
Elements for a sustainable Luxembourg;
Advice on the future National Plan for Sustainable Development.

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Background and Mission

Establishment

The Law of 25 June 2004 on the coordination of the National Sustainable Development Policy established the High Council for Sustainable Development (CSDD) as an advisory body for reflection and discussion on matters regarding sustainable development. The Regulation of 14 July 2005 defines its composition, organisation and functioning. The composition was decided by the Government Council of 13 September 2006 and the CSDD held its first meeting on 7 November 2006. There has been no restructuring ever since.

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Mission

Missions of the Council are (as defined in article 4 of the law of June 25th 2004):

Discussion forum on sustainable development matters;
Proposing research and studies on any topic related to sustainable development;
Establishing relationships with comparable committees in the Member States of the European Union;
Promoting the largest possible participation of public and private bodies and the participation of citizens;
Expressing views on any adopted or planned measures regarding sustainable development by the Government, and especially on the National Plan for Sustainable Development and on the implementation of Luxembourg’s international commitments.

The Council carries out the above-mentioned missions on its own initiative or following a request of the Government.

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Council Members

The CSDD is composed of 15 members chosen according to their knowledge, their competence and their commitment in the society (art. 1 of the regulation of July 14th 2005). The council members act as individuals and not as representatives of an organization or association. No members have a political mandate.

The Government of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg has opted for a Council with a limited number of members. There was no intention to duplicate an existing “Luxembourg model” (such as the Economic and Social Council) when setting up the Council. Special attention was actually paid to create a Council that would not only concentrate on topics traditionally discussed in existing Luxembourg’s assemblies, but that would rather have an alternative approach and give new inputs or insights. The President and the Vice-Presidents are appointed by the Grand-Duke, the other members by the Government.

The Council Members have been appointed by a Regulation of 25 July 2005 for a four-year mandate which is renewable once.

The current composition is:

Chair:
Prof. Raymond Weber	Professor at the Collège d'Europe in Bruges, active in the fields of culture and development as well as cooperation.
Vice-chairs:
Joelle Welfring	Biochemist, director of the Resource Center for Environmental Technologies.
René Winkin	Secretary general of the Luxembourg Federation of Industrial Enterprises (FEDIL). Secretary General the Groupement pétrolier luxembourgeois, association defending the interests of its members involved in industry and oil trade. Vice-President National Council of Energy. substitute member of the Economic and Social Council.
Members:
Tom Conzemius	Veterinary surgeon, ornithologist. President of Lëtzebuerger Natur- a Vulleschutzligaan (LNVL), (An NGO active in natural environment and bird protection).
Emile Eicher (resigned)	new member to be appointed soon
André Hoffmann (resigned)	new member to be appointed soon
Marco Hoffmann	Assistant of social hygiene, coordinator CARITAS Confederation
Gary Kneip	Engineer in computer science, entrepreneur. Vice-President of Luxembourg's Confederation of Commerce, member of the Economic and Social Council. President of the UEL (Union des Entreprises Luxembourgeoises) working group on sustainable development.
Mike Mathias	Social economist, secretary to the Circle of Cooperation, a network of NGOs active in development cooperation
Paul Reckinger	Administrator of Reckinger Alfred S.A; Member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
Gaston Reinesch	Economist
Jean Stoll	Agricultural engineer, director of research, development and demonstration at CONVIS
Blanche Weber	President of the Mouvement Ecologique, NGO defending the principles of ecology and the democracy
Laura Zuccoli	Coordination of the activities of the Association de Soutien aux Travaillers Immigrés (ASTI), an assistance NGO for immigrant workers

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Staff Members

The Secretariat is provided by the Ministry of Environment and it is composed of one civil servant on a part-time basis.

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Work Style

Tasks of the Council

See Mission.

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Substructure and Working Groups

The CSDD has decided to organize the work in temporal subgroups. The subgroups should only be in place for the time of the preparation of the advice. At present there are two active Working Groups:

Sustainability of public finance;
Biomass;
Ecological footprint;
Towards a national plan for sustainable development and sustainable development indicators;
Development of indicators for wellbeing.

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Council Meetings

In 2010 the council meets on monthly basis, these are the dates: 11 January, 22 February, 12 April, 17 May, 14 June, 12 July, 13 September, 25 October, 6 December.

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Activities in the EEAC Network

The CSDD is a member of the EEAC since 2007. Currently it involved as an observer in the EEAC working groups Sustainable Development, Governance, Energy, Biodiversity and Agriculture.

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Type of Advice

The Council carries out the missions on its own initiative or following a request of the Government. The Council has to prepare an annual report on its activities. The law of 25 June 2004 provides that the CSDD delivers its opinion on the preliminary draft of the National Plan for Sustainable Development.

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List of Selected Publications

You can search for the full list of policy advice in our Search Engine which also includes the titles in English of publications available in original language only.

Advice on the pre-project of the national plan for sustainable development (French - January 2010, pdf.);
Statement on the debate of the Climate Conference in Copenhagen (French - November 2009, pdf.);
Statement on sustainable development, relating to the future government programme (French - June 2009, pdf);
A sustainable policy for Luxemburg and Europe: Five propositions for the parties (February 2009);
The present crises - an opportunity for Sustainable Development (January 2009);
Advice on sustainable development of the State finances (September 2008);
Elements for a consolidated statement (German - April 2008)
Recommendations regarding the use of biomass (February 2008).

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