The Sign for My Future petition in favour of a strong climate policy in Belgium has already received 100,000 signatures seven days after being launched, the coalition behind the initiative said on Wednesday. This is “a strong signal that people are concerned about the issue,” noted the coalition, which includes citizens’ groups, non-governmental organisations, business leaders, academics and media.
Young people aged 27 to 31 are the largest group of signatories thus far, making up 17% of the total. They are followed by people in the 31-36 and 37-41 age groups in that order. The oldest signatory, for now, is 86.
“We are calling on people to sign for the future of our children, so it seems logical for parents of young children to be the first to sign,” the initiators of the online petition said.
Geographically speaking, the petition has received a particularly strong response in Ghent.
Sign for My Future is the broadest coalition to come together to put pressure on elected leaders on climate change.
Members of the group include citizens’ organisations such as Bruxsel'air and Youth For Climate, national and international NGOs like CNCD, WWF and Médecins du Monde, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), universities and professional organisations such as Agoria and BECI.
Participating media include Roularta, RTL and IPM, while the heads of BNP Paribas, ING, bpost, Colruyt, Ikea, Proximus and Solvay are among the many business leaders involved.
The Brussels Times
