European Commission appoints Belgian as head of Directorate-General for Climate Action

The European Commission decided on Wednesday to appoint Kurt Vandenberghe as Director-General of the Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA), the department leading the European Commission's efforts to combat climate change at the EU and international levels. The decision will take effect on 16 January 2023.

In his new position, Kurt Vandenberghe will be able to draw on his extensive experience of 26 years in various EU policy areas at the European Commission. Recently, Vandenberghe also played a central role in implementing the European Green Deal as Green Deal advisor in President von der Leyen's cabinet.

In the past, Vandenberghe was also director at the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), where he was first responsible for climate action and resource efficiency and then for policy development and coordination. Earlier in his career, Vandenberghe served as Head of the Cabinet of Janez Potočnik, who was Commissioner for Environment and before Commissioner for Research and Innovation.

Vandenberghe was also a cabinet member of Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin. Before joining the Commission in 1996 as coordinator of the Directorate-General for Transport's Intermodal Transport Task Force, Kurt Vandenberghe worked as a manager in a private sector consultancy.

With the appointment of Kurt Vandenberghe as Director-General (DG) of the Directorate-General for Climate Action, Belgium has two EU DGs. Koen Doens is the Director of Development Coordination for Eastern and Southern Africa at the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development. He too had an impressive track record at the European Commission leading up to his appointment.