Limburg

Brabant wallon

Antwerpen

Namur

Oost-Vlaanderen

Hainaut

Vlaams-Brabant

West-Vlaanderen

Liège

Vlaams Gewest

Bruxelles-Capitale, Région de

wallonne, Région

Luxembourg

Belgium

energy and climate neutral federal goverment buildings by 2040

7% first generation biofuels in the mix between 2021-2030

10.45% biofuels reached in degree of admixture by 2030

4GW installed offshore wind capacity by 2030

32.5 Mtoe final energy consumption by 2030 (-12% compared to BAU)

42.7 Mtoe primary energy consumption by 2030 (-15% compared to BAU)

17.5% renewable energy consumption by 2030

35% GHG emission reduction in non-ETS sectors by 2030 relative to 2005 levels

Increase renewable energy sources by 17.5 per cent of final gross energy consumption.

Reduction of GHG-ETS emissions by 35% compared to 2005. 




GHG emission reductions in buildings in the residential and tertiary sectors per region by 2030 against a 2015 baseline

Judge Nicelli of the Court of First Instance of Brussels, on October 29, 2025, held that the Brussels-Capital Region had failed its duty of care in the face of climate change by not adapting its land-use planning tools to increase the territory's capacity to capture carbon or by not adapting the city to combat the risks of flooding and heat islands. The court ordered the Brussels-Capital Region to suspend the urbanization and sealing of undeveloped sites and land exceeding 0.5 hectares within its territory until its official Regional Land Use Plan (Plan Régional d'Affectation du Sol) is adopted, and in any case by December 31, 2026. The court found that the Region was at fault for continuing to authorize real estate projects on undeveloped sites larger than 50 ares based on outdated regulations adopted before climate issues were recognized.

This decision is subject to appeal but is provisionally enforceable during any subsequent legal proceedings.

In March 2024, a legal action was launched by Hugues Falys, a farmer and several associations (FIAN, Greenpeace, Ligue des droits humains) against Total Energies. The summons was filed on March 13, 2024, with the Commercial Court of Tournai. The legal basis is Belgian extra-contractual civil liability (articles 1382 and 1383 of the former Civil Code). The court has set April 16, 2024 as the date for the introductory hearing so that both parties could agree on the timeline for the legal proceedings (exchange of pleadings, hearings, etc.).
This is the first time that a citizen has taken a multinational to court in Belgium over a climate dispute.

In order to repair past damage and prevent the occurrence of future and certain damage, the plaintiffs request that TotalEnergies be ordered to: 
- immediately halt investment in new fossil fuel projects (gas and oil); 
- reduce its GHG emissions linked to the production and delivery of fossil fuels by at least 60% by 2030, compared with 2023 levels; 
- reduce oil production by 47% by 2030, 75% by 2040 and 90% by 2050 compared to 2020 levels; 
- reduce its gas production by 47% by 2030, 75% by 2040 and 85% by 2050 compared with 2020; 
- adopt and communicate to the applicant a realistic transition plan, including the above three points, based on the best current scientific knowledge and aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. 

The plaintiffs request that all these injunctions be accompanied by a penalty of one million euros per month of delay in complying with the injunctions to be issued. 

In 2021, Flemish authorities announced their approval of petrochemicals giant INEOS’ plastics plant project ('Project One') in the Port of Antwerp, Belgium. 

ClientEarth and 13 other NGOs argue that this project would have tremendous and inadequately assessed environmental impacts, namely in the form of plastic pollution and climate change exacerbation. As a consequence of these concerns, these NGOs submitted an appeal against the permit to the Flemish Ministry of the Environment in early 2022. They argued, in particular, that the permit’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) failed to meet the legal requirements and should not be granted. 

This appeal was dismissed in June 2022. A month later, the NGOs announced that they would bring the Flemish authorities to court to challenge this decision to dismiss their appeal. They argue that "INEOS has so far failed to present an adequate assessment of how the project would impact the climate, nature and surrounding air quality – all of which are likely to suffer significantly if the project goes ahead," and that "the Flemish authorities approved the project without first fully assessing its impacts – making the approval illegal according to EU and national laws." 

In July 2023, the Council of Permit Disputes ("Raad Voor Vergunningsbetwistingen") ruled in a parallel case brought by Dutch authorities in Belgium that INEOS failed to tell Flemish authorities the full extent of its project's predicted impact on the environment, so much so that these authorities should not have granted the project's approval. Accordingly, the project has been suspended, and ClientEarth and others' case is concluded since the underlying permit is now void.

In December 2022, Carbon Market Watch, a not-for-profit association, launched a complaint against the international governing body of association football, beach football, and futsal (FIFA) before the Belgian advertisement ethics panel. Similar claims have simultaneously been launched in France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. Carbon Market Watch alleges that FIFA's advertising of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as "carbon neutral" is misleading and false, and violates the rules of codes of the Belgian advertisement ethics panel. In particular, they argue that the "carbon neutral" nature of this World Cup has not been certified or validated by any independent body, that the methodology used by FIFA to measure its "carbon neutrality" was erroneous and resulted in a significant underestimation, and that FIFA also failed to meet its obligations in terms of offsetting to support its carbon neutrality communication.

The relevant authorities in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland announced that all five complaints would be examined jointly by the Swiss authorities.

Geography

Belgium

Recent cases