The government’s climate commitments and the court
Our Belgian member Grands-Parents pour le Climat shares a message of the Belgian association “Klimaatzaak – L’affaire Climat” (Climate Affair). This association is a citizen initiative that takes legal action against the Belgian authorities to hold them accountable for their international climate commitments. It has today more than 71,000 supporters and their number is growing every day.
Climate Affair points at the climate policy of the newly established federal government. Although the ambition to comply with the Paris agreement is once again confirmed, no policy is planned to implement this commitment. On the contrary. Subsidies for fossil fuels remain generous (15 billion euros per year), the electrification of company cars is postponed and the introduction of green taxation is not on the agenda.
“Apart from a few minor measures (reduction of VAT on heat pumps, the government will introduce a combined ticket for public transport, etc.), we have found no trace of the reforms that are essential to significantly reduce emissions, free our country from fossil fuels and achieve climate neutrality” says Climate Affair in a recent Newsletter.
Successive governments have been promising climate action for decades, but have not taken sufficient action to implement it, which has already earned them strong condemnation twice in the context of the trial that was introduced by Climate Affair. Because no sufficient measures have been taken since, Climate Affair will this year again ask the judge to impose penalty payments on Belgian federal and regional authorities that do not comply with the ruling. Because “we cannot evade tomorrow’s responsibilities by avoiding them today”. These are the words used by the Belgian Prime Minister to conclude the preface to the government agreement. And he is right. Leaving a liveable planet should be a priority.
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Belgian farmer takes TotalEnergies to court
© Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto
Grands-Parents pour le Climat also remind us of another interesting court case: that of a Belgian farmer taking TotalEnergies to court.
This is a first in Belgium and one out of ten cases against TotalEnergies. On March 13 2024, Hugues Falys, a farmer from the province of Hainaut, sued TotalEnergies for its responsibility in climate change before the court. Hugues Falys believes that the extreme weather events that have hit his farm in recent years have caused him significant damage. “Climate change has very real effects for me: loss of yields, increased workload and stress when dealing with a disoriented crop calendar,” he said in a press release.
Three NGOs, Fian, Greenpeace and the Human Rights League are joining this legal action. “Even today, the multinational is swimming against the tide of the recommendations of international bodies: it is continuing its colossal investments in fossil fuels (…) which cause irreversible damage to farmers,” they argue.
With “The Farmer case”, Hugues Falys and the NGOs hope to make one of the largest multinationals active in fossil fuels face its responsibilities and force it to adopt a credible transition plan. The first hearing in this climate action took place on Tuesday 16 April 2024 before the Tournai company court in Belgium. The five parties agreed on a timetable for the exchange of pleadings. According to this timetable, the pleadings before the court will take place on 19 and 26 November 2025.
“ If this transnational right is recognized by the courts, it means that any person in Europe will be able to sue a company whose headquarters are not in their country for climate damage! It is therefore an important trial in terms of its scope.” Says Philippe Sonnet, Grands-Parents pour le Climat.