Politicians and climate groups on Wednesday launched the construction of a memorial in Brussels’ European quarter in honour of victims of the climate crisis.
The project is being led by Climate Justice for Rosa and youth activist Benjamin Van Bunderen Robberechts, who lost his friend Rosa five years ago in the deadly floods in the Vesdre Valley, Wallonia.
The 2021 disaster killed at least 243 people across western Europe, including around 40 in Belgium.
Project links national and international organisations and institutions
A number of civil society organisations have joined the initiative, including Oxfam Belgium, Amnesty International, the Climate Coalition, the Walloon Anti-Poverty Network and Greenpeace.
Since 2023, 15 July has been recognised as the Belgian and European Day of Victims of the Global Climate Crisis, marking the anniversary of the 2021 floods.
The memorial, designed by landscape architect Bas Smets, is expected to be completed within a year. It is intended to honour not only the victims of the 2021 floods but also those who have died in heatwaves, as Europe faces another spell of extreme heat.
A call for political action
“Record heatwaves and wildfires show once again that the climate crisis is costing lives across the continent,” Climate Justice for Rosa said.
The monument, which will stand in the Maelbeek Valley Garden, near the European Commission, is also meant as a call for political action.
“This is not a static memorial, but a living archive that will grow year after year for as long as this crisis continues,” Smets said.
Personalities attending the ceremony included Climate Minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés) and Brussels Climate Secretary of State Ans Persoons (Vooruit.brussels).
Other politicians present included Paul Magnette (Parti socialiste) and Raoul Hedebouw (Workers’ Party of Belgium).
Persoons praised Van Bunderen Robberechts for driving the project forward. She noted that the garden falls under the City of Brussels rather than the region, and that the city welcomed the memorial.
'Every measure that protects lives is necessary'
In her view, the effects of climate change are now unmistakable and require concrete measures, including in Brussels.
“Every measure that protects lives is necessary,” she said.
Crucke called for a major inter-federal climate plan bringing together all of Belgium’s governments. He also urged the European Union to exclude climate spending from national budget rules, as it does for defence spending.
“There may be a threat to European security. That is true. But the climate problem is a certainty,” he said.
Call for more action from the federal government
Not everyone was convinced by that message.
Kiki Berkers, climate policy officer at 11.11.11, said the memorial should not only be an act of remembrance but also a prompt for future action. “The work is urgent. We urgently need to adapt to the climate crisis, but at the same time we must also tackle its causes,” she said.
Groen president Aimen Horch was also critical of Crucke’s remarks, dismissing them as “empty words and slogans” and lamenting what he said was a lack of concrete action by Belgium’s federal government.
“I welcome the memorial, but absolutely not the speeches by politicians,” he said. “We are in the middle of another heatwave, and all our leaders are offering us is advice to drink water and empty words, with no deeds and no action.”
