The Brussels Regional Climate Minister, Alain Maron (Francophone green) has said that as things stand he does not wish to submit Belgium’s Energy and Climate Plan to the European Commission. Mr Marron says that Flanders will either have to increase its efforts with regard to energy and climate or provide financial guarantees before the plan can be submitted. On Monday evening the various ministers, including Mr Maron and the Flemish Environment Minister Zuhal Demir (nationalist) responsible for drafting Belgium’s Energy and Climate Plan met to discuss the plan.
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Belgium will not present an Energy and Climate Plan just yet
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The 27 EU Member States have until the end of June to provide the European Commission with an update of their national Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030. The aim for the EU as a whole is to ensure that CO2 emissions are reduced by 55% by 2030. The target set for Belgium is a 47% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
However, it is likely that Belgium will not achieve this objective, as Flanders does not want to go further than a 40% reduction in emissions. During the meeting of the various ministers responsible for climate on Monday afternoon, Zuhal Demir (photo) reiterated the position of the Flemish Government. Belgium’s Energy and Climate Plan must be agreed by the federal government and the three regional governments.
The Brussels Environment Minister Alain Maron is the President of the National Climate Commission. It is in this capacity that he organised a meeting between regions and the federal government to discuss the plan. After the meeting Flemish Environment Minister Zuhal Demir indicated that Mr Maron would not submit any proposals to the European Commission for the moment, unless Flanders revises its ambitions upwards (extremely unlikely) or provides financial guarantees.
Ms Demir's office says that the document currently being discussed is only a draft. The final energy-climate plan is not expected until June next year.