Activists of the Climate Coalition are distributing fake newspapers with "tomorrow's headlines" in Belgium's major train stations, predicting the country's future if leaders do not take decisive action to prevent further global warming.
In the coming weeks, Belgian climate ministers, together with their European colleagues, must set a new target for reducing emissions by 2040. According to the Climate Coalition, a 95% reduction is fair, achievable and fully in line with the country's international commitments.
Today, Belgium is increasingly breaking those climate promises. Recent reports show that the country is in danger of burying the Paris Agreement (which aims to limit global warming to a maximum of 1.5°C) as early as 2030.
"The consequences would be incalculable and affect every household," said the Climate Coalition.
'Unaffordable fries'
In a protest action on Wednesday, the protesters distributed fake newspapers in Belgium's major train stations, displaying "tomorrow's headlines," such as "Schools closed for days due to heatwave" and "Fries now unaffordable."
The Climate Coalition will also read these news reports to Belgian Climate Minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés) on 11 June. "Only the ministers, who are currently negotiating European targets to reduce CO2 emissions, can avert this future."
"The climate crisis is not fated, but the result of choices. What headlines do we want to read tomorrow? If our politicians choose to muddle through, we will reap heat waves that drastically disrupt the lives of our children and elderly, as well as agriculture and the economy," said Nadia Cornejo.
Credit: Climate Coalition
"Front pages with headlines such as 'Schools close due to unbearable heat during exams' or 'Potato prices triple due to drought' must not become reality. Our ministers will decide on this here this summer," she said.
European policymakers are signalling that they are not hearing the alarm bells: climate and environmental policy has been under fire for a year now.
An ambitious 2040 target that respects the Paris Agreement and provides clear direction to businesses and citizens is the absolute minimum required to keep a just transition on track, the Climate Coalition stressed. "Without that signal, Europe will sound the death knell for its climate policy – and its relevance on the world stage."
Doom and gloom
To achieve that goal, the Climate Coalition stressed the importance of listening to scientists: they clearly state that a reduction of -95% is needed to stay below 1.5°C. "And we must focus on what really works. It is unthinkable that countries or companies 'offset' their emissions by protecting a forest elsewhere, for example in Kenya, while emissions from, say, the port of Antwerp continue unabated."
Such methods do not fit within the mandate of the 2040 target, which explicitly requires domestic reduction. Moreover, scientists have stressed that these compensation projects are often overvalued on paper, ineffective in practice and regularly jeopardise human rights.
"Belgian climate ministers are facing a decisive choice that will determine the coming years," the activists said. "Will they make the ambitious choice today to keep our future liveable, or will a newspaper full of doom and gloom become reality? We are asking the ministers for a clear answer."
