Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called for greater inclusion and collaboration to tackle the climate crisis but condemned activists for recently taking aim at artworks in a speech he held at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh on Tuesday.
In his speech, De Croo called for greater climate ambition so that no one is left behind. He added that everyone, particularly the youth and the private sector, should be involved in tackling the current climate crisis.
De Croo also condemned recent activist actions at museums for “trashing buildings and works of art”, calling them “the other extreme” in opposition to those who are “in complete denial of man-made global warming”.
“What we need today are solutions that work for everyone […] And just like we don’t need more polarisation, we also should avoid resignation,” said De Croo, who also gave assurances that authorities will do more in the climate change fight.
He said that technological solutions to the climate crisis, particularly those being developed by Belgian companies for climate adaptation and emission reduction, are key.
“Belgium comes to this COP with a sizable private sector delegation because they bring big solutions to the table,” he said, pointing to the off-shore wind technology, green hydrogen, and “projects that will not only protect us from rising sea levels but can even turn the driest desert into an oasis again.”
De Croo also noted efforts made by other countries and the need for international cooperation to “reinforce each other” and “stop climate change”.
Young people, in particular, must “be part of the solution” by studying and connecting with each other, noting that this also included people with different ideas. “That is the only way forward: not by throwing paint at each other, but by reaching out to each other,” he said.
At the same time, De Croo emphasised the importance of maintaining social cohesion and acknowledged that emission-curbing policies will have a harsher impact on some, citing farmers, people renting old apartments, and small family businesses as examples.
However, unlike other EU leaders, Belgium’s prime minister did not mention Russia’s war in Ukraine and its consequences on the energy situation.
Belgium was praised at the World Leaders Summit for being one of the first countries after Denmark to announce funding for “loss and damage” caused indirectly by man-made emissions.
However, Carine Thibaut, spokesperson for Greenpeace Belgium, stated that De Croo’s opening speech was “hollow and disappointing”.
“Belgium’s climate record remains totally inadequate. Not only is our country failing to meet its climate targets, but it has not yet fulfilled its commitment to climate justice”, she argued in a statement.
Such comments were echoed by the Climate Coalition, a Belgian coalition of over 90 organisations mobilising for climate justice which described De Croo’s speech as “disappointing”.
“Not a word about ‘loss and damage’” during the speech, also “not a word about raising our country’s climate targets,” the coalition added on Twitter.
(Anne-Sophie Gayet, Arthur Riffaud | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
