Towards a climate change resilient society by 2050 – Federal adaptation measures 2023-2026

A package of federal adaptation measures was approved by the Council of Ministers on 3 March 2023 under the title “Towards a climate change resilient society by 2050 – Federal adaptation measures 2023-2026” (translated from the Dutch and the French version). The launch of these federal adaptation measures follows a transparent process, including a public consultation conducted by the FPS Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment from 27 June to 16 September 2022.

In recent years, Belgium has been confronted with the consequences of climate disruption, in particular severe droughts, floods caused by river floods and precipitation, and prolonged heat waves. As current and future climate change affects many sectors of our society (transport, health, economy, agriculture, energy, etc.), we need to prepare and adapt to these changes. The adaptation measures proposed in this document should moderate or avoid harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. The federal government has a range of competences to address these adaptation challenges.

This document includes 28 federal adaptation measures, divided into 8 policy areas (research, biodiversity, infrastructure, natural resources, public health, risk and crisis management, international cooperation and awareness-raising) in order to act in a coordinated manner. Adaptation to climate change must be integrated into existing policies and legislation (so-called mainstreaming of adaptation). Where necessary, the development of measures or their implementation will be coordinated with the regions and other stakeholders.

With this federal adaptation package, Belgium is in line with the Paris Agreement (2015), the new EU climate change adaptation strategy (2021), the European Climate Law (2021) and the EU Regulation 2018/1999 on Energy Union governance and climate action (2018). A first review of the measures will be carried out in 2024, followed by a final review of its implementation in 2026.