Tens of thousands join Brussels climate march demanding fair, ambitious action

Around 20,000 to 30,000 people marched through Brussels on Sunday for the Climate March, according to police and organisers. The demonstration, organised by the Climate Coalition (an alliance of over 100 groups, trade unions and NGOs) called for public money to fund a “fair and ambitious” climate policy.

The march set off from King Albert II Avenue and finished at Cinquantenaire Park, where concerts and DJ sets were planned. Police said the event remained peaceful.

“Governments must do everything within their power to limit the disruption caused by the climate crisis, not press pause on action”, the Climate Coalition said in a statement. The group criticised Belgium’s continued subsidies for fossil fuels, which total more than 15 billion euros a year, while funding for renovation, conservation and climate goals is being cut back.

Nadia Cornejo, the Coalition’s vice-chair, urged Belgian and European leaders to “invest in our future, not its destruction.” The coalition wants governments to redirect public funds towards concrete, equitable climate measures and to strengthen their ambition in line with the Paris Agreement, including cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 and by 90 per cent by 2040.

The march comes just days after Belgium’s federal Climate minister Jean-Luc Crucke reached an agreement on the distribution of the EU’s Social Climate Fund, designed to help vulnerable households cope with the upcoming EU carbon tax. The government also approved its long-delayed National Energy and Climate Plan, clearing the way for submission to Brussels.

Minister Crucke hailed both developments as “clear signals in favour of climate progress”, but acknowledged that “there is still a long road ahead” to meet Belgium’s 2050 climate goals.

^{The climate march in Brussels © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK}