Belgium’s French-speaking Green party Ecolo has urged governments across the country to end what it called their passivity on climate change and guarantee climate security by investing heavily in adaptation.
The appeal was made on Sunday by co-leaders Gilles Vanden Burre and Marie-Colline Leroy at the party’s traditional political ecology festival at the Messembre estate, which Ecolo said drew 600 participants.
The pair criticised what they described as months of silence from the authorities during a period marked by deadly heatwaves, around 2,000 additional deaths, severe drought and fires in the High Fens that destroyed more than 3,000 hectares.
“Not a minute of silence, not a word from the prime minister,” the co-chairs said.
They also accused political leaders of repeatedly asking, “Who could have predicted this?”, despite decades of warnings from scientists and citizens dating back to the 1970s.
Ecolo said Belgium is not sufficiently prepared for the consequences of climate change and called for a “climate state of emergency” to be declared.
The party wants 1% of GDP, or €6 billion a year, to be invested in protecting the country, adapting infrastructure and decarbonising the economy.
Vanden Burre said the sum should not be seen as a burden but as a “collective life insurance policy,” arguing that it matches the economic losses caused by climate impacts this summer.
From the opposition benches, Ecolo is also calling for a Fire Plan, including renewed funding for the fire service and Civil Protection, and a Cooling Plan focused on greening cities, adapting schools and renovating homes.
The party said the measures should prioritise the most vulnerable people.
