As a hot summer marked by excess deaths and a devastating wildfire drew to a close, both the governing majority and opposition in Wallonia tabled motions on Wednesday to prepare the region for extreme weather.
The measures, discussed at the opening session of Wallonia's parliament’s, covered issues ranging from protecting animals during heatwaves to access to water and crisis management.
Their shared goal was to strengthen the region’s response to the growing impact of climate change and improve preparedness for future extreme events.
During the debate, Jean-Paul Bastin, leader of Les Engagés in the regional parliament, said a regional climate adaptation strategy was being developed on the basis of an assessment of vulnerabilities.
He said his party wanted the strategy to help speed up the region’s ability to anticipate and respond to climate-related risks.
Despite the scale of the challenge, however, the parties failed to unite behind a common position, with each side defending its own proposals.
Socialist parliamentary leader Christie Morreale criticised the majority sharply. “In July, you refused to treat this as urgent, and today your response is: move along, nothing to see here," she noted. "You are clearly not equal to the scale of these events.”
She also called for cross-party co-operation, urging politicians to “work together” and set aside political divisions on climate policy.
Morreale argued for a political truce on climate measures, saying parties should agree not to reverse them regardless of which coalition is in power.
She also proposed - unsuccessfully - the setting up of a working group within parliament, pledging that the Socialist Party would participate constructively.
