Belgian Climate Plan: An Update That Barely Hides the Delay

OCT 2025

Belgium has just updated its National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP)… only to acknowledge openly that it will not meet its European obligations: a 42.7% reduction in emissions instead of the required 47%. Despite a more assertive federal stance — nuclear power extended to 4 GW, offshore ambitions, measures for electricity-intensive industries — the federal-regional ensemble remains too fragmented for real impact. The country still benefits from the temporary effect of the Covid crisis but no structural strategy is in place to stay on track. And because the distribution of efforts between entities is still unresolved, years of negotiations are likely, for a plan that is already insufficient. An update that feels more like an administrative exercise than a credible response to the climate emergency.