City of Brussels declared to be “in a climate emergency”
On Monday evening, the communal council of the City of Brussels has declared that the commune is “in a climate emergency”. The motion was adopted thanks to a concentration between majority and opposition forces, with the exception of the N-VA. The communal councilors have also set the objective of carbon neutrality by 2050.
The aim of this statement is to give a concrete answer to the numerous citizens’ calls for action and the warnings of the whole scientific community and the IPCC, at the time that opens in New-York, the summit of the UN on the weather. The communal council also wanted to recall which are, in its opinion, the essential policies in the fight against climate change.
In particular, it has set the target that the energy consumption of the City’s buildings has to be provided to 100% by green energy, of which 27% has to be local renewable energy. The communal councilors have also set the objective of carbon neutrality by 2050. There is also the intention of increasing the ambitions of the Climate Plan by implementing the objective of drastic reduction of emissions through several measures, such as its merger with Agenda 21, to ensure cross-cutting in all departments of the administration.
Other policies are the association of a citizen and scientific panel with its regular evaluation and its promotion to the structures that depend on the City of Brussels, the private sector, associations, and the people of Brussels.
From the opposition, the PTB participated in the discussions as well as the MR and the cdH. The motion was supported by all the opposition parties even though the PTB regrets that some of its amendments, such as free public transport, have not been taken into account.
