The EIB’s Climate Survey has found that only half of Luxembourg residents plan to buy a hybrid or electric vehicle next, a figure significantly below the EU average. Photo: Guy Wolff / Maison Moderne

The EIB’s Climate Survey has found that only half of Luxembourg residents plan to buy a hybrid or electric vehicle next, a figure significantly below the EU average. Photo: Guy Wolff / Maison Moderne

With questions about how climate change affects Europeans’ decisions concerning travel and shopping, part two of the European Investment Bank’s 2021–2022 Climate Survey was published on 1 February.

Only 13% of the overall EU population have neither a vehicle nor a plan to buy one. In Luxembourg, that rate is just 5%.

Of the drivers, a third of Europeans say they will opt for a petrol or diesel vehicle next, versus 28% who will buy electric and 39% who will buy hybrid. Luxembourg residents again score significantly worse from an environmental perspective, with as many as 49% of respondents planning to go petrol or diesel. Across the EU, only the Czech Republic has a higher rate.

Holidays

When it comes to choosing holiday destinations, 67% of Europeans claim that they consider climate change, which, the EIB survey reports, is nine points higher than what Americans say. Nevertheless, 52% of Europeans will travel by air during their summer holidays this year.

In Luxembourg, climate consideration is relatively lower: only 56% of people report thinking about the environmental crisis when they choose a holiday destination. About half (47%) of respondents in the Grand Duchy will travel by plane this summer, five points lower than the EU average. Perhaps surprisingly, youngsters in Luxembourg are more keen to fly: 64% of them plan to do so; 44% to a “distant” destination.

Clothes

The Luxembourg-versus-EU trend continues when reviewing the EIB’s findings about clothing. Across Europe, 42% of respondents report buying second-hand clothes instead of new ones, with a higher rate among young people between 15 and 29 years old (54%).

In the Grand Duchy, the gap here is 16 points: just one in four respondents (26%) buy second-hand clothing.

In both the EU and Luxembourg, women are much more likely to do so. Across Europe, it’s 48% of women versus 34% of men; in Luxembourg, those numbers are 33% and 19%, respectively.

Read more results from the survey .

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