The Brussels Court of Appeal is obliging the Belgian state, the Flemish Region and the Brussels Capital Region to reduce greenhouse gas emissions more quickly. By 2030 a 55% reduction is required in comparison with 1990. The court ruled that the authorities have so far taken insufficient measures to protect citizens' human rights.
Climate activists win their case: court imposes CO2 reduction targets on governments
Colin Clapson
Published:
The ruling applies to the three Belgian governments combined. The court does not impose specific targets for individual governments. Belgium, Flanders and Brussels will have to agree on who does what to achieve the 55% reduction target together.
The ruling comes after charity Klimaatzaak brought a case against the Belgian state. The not-for-profit organisation represents 58,000 co-claimants. At the time, nine years ago when it was initiated, the Belgian climate case was the second of its kind worldwide, after the Netherlands.
Klimaatzaak claims the Belgian government is not doing enough to combat climate change and is violating both the social duty of care and the right to life and family life of its citizens. In other words, Belgian climate policy violates human rights.
Mandatory reduction targets after all
A court already ruled in the favour of Klimaatzaak in 2021, but it did not impose reduction targets on the governments at the time. However, these mandatory reduction targets were precisely why the activists had gone to court.
At the time, the not-for-profit organisation called the ruling ‘historic’, but also a ‘paper victory’. Klimaatzaak decided to appeal. Now the appeal judge has insisted on reduction targets, Klimaatzaak has won its battle.
Judge demands more than Europe
Cutting emissions by 55% by 2030, is quite a task. By 2021, Belgium had achieved a 24 per cent reduction compared to 1990.
The bar is also significantly higher than the climate efforts the EU is asking of Belgium. For the EU by 2030, Belgium must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 47 per cent in comparison with 2005 levels. The benchmark for this reduction demanded by Europe is 15 years later than that included in the present ruling, when emissions were higher, making the effort smaller. Furthermore, that reduction does not apply to key sectors with high climate impact including energy production and heavy industry, which are covered by the European carbon market, the EU’s Emissions Trading System.