The Kyoto Policy of Belgium. Egmont Paper, no. 18, February 2008

Van Hecke, Karel, and Zgajewski, Tania. (2008) The Kyoto Policy of Belgium. Egmont Paper, no. 18, February 2008.

Abstract

Since the start of negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol, the Belgian authorities have always taken a favourable position towards an ambitious climate change regime, both at international and European level. This is obviously linked to the perception of a series of threats in Belgium.1 However, the Belgian position also results from the clear awareness that a global threat calls for a global solution. In the context of the Kyoto Protocol, the Belgian authorities have assumed ambitious commitments within the European Union. The start of the first commitment period (2008-2012) of the Protocol offers an excellent moment to evaluate the results so far. In this perspective, the present note recalls Belgium’s reduction commitment (§ 1) and describes the institutional structures put in place (§ 2), the general policies and measures taken at the federal and regional levels2 (§ 3) and finally the results obtained (§ 4).