The cooperation agreement of 14 November 20024 established the National Climate Commission (CNC) to draw up national plans and propose draft cooperation agreements to the consultation committee5. In general, the TNC is responsible for the internal coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the national climate plan and the proper implementation of European and international reporting obligations. It is composed of representatives of the Confederation and the three regions. On 12 December 2015, in Paris, the 195 Member States of the United Nations met for an ambitious climate agreement. But what exactly does it say? And can we really fight global warming? The agreement applies to Belgium from 6 May 2017. More than 50 states have yet to formally ratify it. The Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016, 30 days after its ratification by at least 55 signatories, or at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The so-called Paris Agreement is the first universal and legally binding climate agreement. Unlike the Kyoto Protocol, it sets climate targets for all countries. Federal laws provide for the manner in which the various competent authorities are to cooperate in this area. Article 92 bis of the Special Law on Institutional Reform allows the various local authorities to conclude cooperation agreements on the joint exercise of their own powers.
General climate policy in Belgium is governed by such agreements. Belgium has officially ratified the international agreement to combat global warming adopted on 12 December 2015 at COP21 in Paris. The country is the 142. The state that ratified the agreement was announced Friday on the website of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). „Today`s agreement undoubtedly shows that it is possible for us to tackle together the greatest challenges we face, to prevent the millions of people threatened by the effects of climate change and to ensure the world`s economic prosperity in the twenty-first century.“ The conference negotiated the Paris Agreement, a global agreement on reducing climate change, the text of which constituted a consensus among representatives of the 196 participating parties. The agreement will become legally binding if at least 55 countries, which together account for at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions, join it. On April 22, 2016 (Earth Day), 174 countries signed the agreement in New York and began adopting it in their own legal systems (by ratification, acceptance, approval or accession). Under the agreement reached in 2014, Belgium is expected to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 35% in these sectors by 2030.
This is relative to emissions measured in 2005. In the Brussels-Capital Region, on 2 May 2013, the Brussels Code for Air, Climate and Energy Management pursues a number of objectives ranging from the integration of regional air, climate and energy policies and reducing dependence on non-renewable energy sources to improving the energy performance of buildings and reducing the environmental impact due to mobility needs. On the basis of this Brussels Code, the Brussels government adopted, on 12 July 2018, a regional air-climate plan was adopted with the aim of reducing emissions by 32% by 2030. The report concluded that Belgium is achieving its „barely feasible“ target. While Belgium has reduced its greenhouse gases over the past decade, it needs to significantly increase the speed and efficiency of its efforts if the figure is to reach 35% over the next 11 years, it is said. .