Belgium to send smaller ministerial delegation to UN climate summit in Brazil
Belgium will be attending the COP30 UN Climate Conference in Belém, Brazil, with a smaller ministerial delegation. The country's various Climate ministers have agreed to halve the official presence in order to 'work efficiently and avoid unnecessary costs'.
As a federal state, Belgium has a complex political structure with multiple climate ministers at federal, Walloon, Flemish and Brussels levels. This year, only two of these ministers will attend COP30: federal minister for Climate Jean-Luc Crucke and Walloon minister for Energy and the Air-Climate Plan Cécile Neven. Flemish Climate minister Melissa Depraetere and Brussels minister Alain Maron will not be attending.
Joint position
A joint Belgian position on climate negotiations is currently being developed ahead of the summit, which has proven to be a difficult task in previous years. In the past, the absence of a unified position has repeatedly left Belgium without a common voice at the talks. During the previous legislative term, however, all relevant ministers were present, although former Flemish minister Zuhal Demir was absent from several meetings for various reasons.
Although she will not be attending COP30, current Flemish Climate minister Depraetere emphasised the importance of the summit: “It’s vital that every country is represented and plays its part. Only by working together can we tackle climate change," she said.
Efficient negotiations
“To ensure efficient negotiations, all competent ministers will coordinate a Belgian position beforehand. We’ll do that work domestically, which allows us to keep the delegation smaller and avoid unnecessary expenses associated with travelling to Brazil.”
The Flemish Parliament has also recently announced that it will not be sending a delegation to the summit. The parliamentary chairman, Freya Van den Bossche, cited the environmental cost of hosting the event, including the construction of a motorway through tens of thousands of hectares of protected rainforest, the use of cruise ships, and rising travel and accommodation expenses, as reasons for this decision.
The 30th UN Climate Conference will take place in November in Belém. Countries are expected to adopt new measures to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions in order to mitigate global warming and protect the planet.
#FlandersNewsService | © Carlos Fabal / AFP
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