Experts call for substantial investment in Blue Deal 2.0 to tackle water crises
If Flanders is to withstand the growing threats of both flooding and drought, it must significantly increase its investment in climate resilience. This was the message delivered to the Flemish Parliament on Tuesday by several leading water experts.
The experts emphasised that the need is urgent. Climate change is destabilising the region’s hydrological systems, leading to extremes at both ends of the spectrum. Belgium recorded its wettest year on record in 2024, which was followed by the second-driest spring. These erratic patterns are no longer anomalies, but the new normal.
Experts have long called for an integrated water policy that combines multiple strategies, such as improved water buffering, better rainwater harvesting, more efficient water reuse and reduced consumption.
Flemish minister for the Environment Jo Brouns of CD&V is preparing a revised version of the Blue Deal, known as Blue Deal 2.0. The original programme to reduce water scarcity in the region was launched in 2020 under the previous government.
Now, Brouns is working with a smaller budget than his predecessor, Zuhal Demir of N-VA. The total allocation for the current legislative period is 285 million euros, but only an additional 14 million euros has been announced for 2025 and 2026.
"It's no secret that the current budget falls short. Facing what lies ahead will require substantially greater investment"
“That is nowhere near sufficient, particularly in the first two years,” said Patrick Willems, professor of hydrology at KU Leuven. He reiterated the need for an annual baseline investment of at least 100-150 million euros.
Colleague Marijke Huysmans, a groundwater hydrology specialist, agreed, saying: "It's no secret that the current budget falls short. Facing what lies ahead will require substantially greater investment."
"You’d have to be mad not to invest in resilience"
Henk Ovink, the former UN Special Envoy for Water and chair of the expert panel behind the Weerbaar Waterland (Resilient Waterland) report, was unequivocal: "You’d have to be mad not to invest in resilience," he said. "The data shows that every euro invested yields a tenfold return. It doesn’t just prevent losses. It generates added value and new opportunities.
"I understand that money isn't just lying around," he added. "But failing to invest in resilience is a loss-making enterprise. It brings rising economic, ecological and human costs. In the worst cases, it costs lives. And those costs always come back with a vengeance.”
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK
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