Environment at a Glance Indicators

Belgium

This country profile features selected environmental indicators from the OECD Core Set, building on harmonised datasets available on OECD Data Explorer. The indicators reflect major environmental issues, including climate, air quality, freshwater resources, waste and the circular economy, biodiversity, and selected policy responses to these issues. Differences with national data sources can occur due to delays in data treatment and publication, or due to different national definitions and measurement methods. The OECD is working with countries and other international organisations to further improve the indicators and the underlying data.

Context

Belgium is a small but open economy. Due to its geographical location and size, it is characterised by strong international and regional interdependence. With few exploitable natural resources other than forests, Belgium depends on external markets for its energy and raw material supplies. Economic activity has been moderate but steady in the five years preceding the COVID-19 outbreak. The economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic hit the economy hard, with gross domestic product (GDP) contracting by 5.7% in 2020. The economy recovered (+6.2%) in 2021. GDP per person and population density are high. Road infrastructure is dense; the Antwerp port is one of the busiest in Europe. Although its weight in the economy has declined, industry remains an important sector (in particular chemicals, food products, basic metals and fabricated metal products).

Belgium is a small federal country with four levels of government: federal, regional, provincial and municipal and three linguistic communities. Environmental competences are mainly dealt with at the regional level. Regions (Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels‑Capital Region) have responsibility for the rational use of energy, the promotion of renewable energy sources, public transport, transport (except rail) infrastructure, land use planning, agriculture and environmental services (water supply, wastewater and municipal waste management). They delegate significant authority to provinces (in the Flemish and Walloon regions) and municipalities, which share responsibilities for land-use planning, permitting and environmental services. The federal government is competent for energy security and nuclear energy, marine protection and offshore windfarms, energy taxation, product policies and co‑ordination of Belgium’s international environmental policy.

Climate change

CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion per person are below the OECD average but above the European one. Demand-based CO₂ emissions (footprint) per person, that accounts for carbon emitted in imports to satisfy domestic final demand, is however higher than the OECD average.

CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion have decoupled from economic growth and total energy supply, thanks to increased use of gaseous fuels and decreased use of liquid and solid fuels, which led to a less carbon-intensive energy mix. Other factors that played a role are improved energy efficiency, and structural changes of the economy (fewer energy-intensive industries such as steel, and more value added in sectors with lower energy intensity, such as services and trade).

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from energy combustion have decreased in all sectors until 2014, and have stabilised in recent years. Emissions from transport increased between 2013 and 2018 due to the growing number of road vehicles and the longer distances travelled. Although the number of buildings increased, related emissions decreased thanks to the switch of fuel mix, better insulation and generally warmer winters that led to a lower energy consumption. Emissions from industrial processes and products use decreased thanks to investments in catalysts in nitric acid production beginning in 2003 and a sharp decrease in emissions from fluorochemical production and from metal production due to the economic crisis. Emissions from waste were reduced through the recovery of biogas in landfills and emissions from agriculture declined due to less livestock production and nitrogen use. In 2020, GHG emissions decline by 8.6%, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated restrictions put in place to contain its spread.

Energy mix

Belgium has limited domestic energy resources and is highly dependent on other countries for its energy supply. National production is mainly composed of nuclear and energy from renewable fuels and waste whose share is rising. The share of nuclear is among the highest in the OECD but Belgium has committed by law to shut down all nuclear plants by 2025. Fossil fuels represent 71% of the energy supply. Energy intensities are above the OECD average due to Belgium strong manufacturing base with several energy-intensive sectors (e.g. chemicals, refining and iron and steel).

Air quality

Air emissions

Emissions from all sources have decreased for most major pollutants, except for fine particulates (PM_2.5) from agriculture and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) from residential combustion. Belgium reached its 2020 Gothenburg Protocol objectives for sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOx), NMVOC and ammonia (NH₃) emissions.

Emissions from road transport decreased due to greater use of catalytic converters, particulate filters and other technical measures in passenger cars, and to a road charge for heavy vehicles that also stimulated the renewal of the vehicle fleet. Emissions were reduced in electricity production and industry due to switching to gaseous fuels and use of end-of-pipe techniques. Both voluntary agreements and emission limit values were used. Emissions from heating appliances were reduced thanks to fuel switching and more stringent product legislation. Emissions from new stoves and other appliances are regulated, older stoves continue to generate a large share of emissions. Other factors that played a role in emission reductions include the 2009 economic crisis, which resulted in an important slowdown of industrial activity (shutdown of the hot iron and steel industry; shut down of two lines of glass production) and in reduced power plant activity. All pollutant emission intensities are below the OECD and OECD Europe averages.

Emission reductions went on par with air quality improvements. The level of exposure of the population to PM_2.5 concentrations decreased over time, but nevertheless remains above the new guideline value of 5 µg/m³ recommended by the World Health Organization.

Freshwater resources

Use of freshwater resources

Belgium is relatively poorly endowed with freshwater resources in view of its high population density; and water resources are unevenly distributed between the north and the south. As a result, the country is under moderate to medium-high water stress. Per person annual abstraction of freshwater for public supply is well below the OECD average and has stabilised since 2008.

Since 2007, the network of wastewater treatment plants has been extended. Most wastewater is treated in plants with tertiary (“advanced”) treatment. In 2019, 13% of the population was connected to an independent treatment and 2% were not connected to public sewerage or independent treatment.

Waste, materials and circular economy

Municipal waste

Belgium has reduced the amount of municipal waste generated since a peak in 2007 and achieved an absolute decoupling from economic and population growth. The increase in 2020 is due to the inclusion of metal and inert materials recycled in a mechanical-biological treatment facility in the Flanders. The municipal waste recovery rates (recycling, composting and incineration with energy recovery) are high, they already reached 78% of amounts treated in 2000 compared to 36% on average in OECD Europe countries. This low rate of disposal is due to a landfill ban of untreated waste (including biodegradable municipal waste), in place since 2007. Landfill taxes increased considerably in Flanders and Wallonia where Belgium’s landfill infrastructure is located.

Material consumption

Belgium extracts most of its domestic material consumption (DMC) that, as in most OECD countries, is dominated by non-metallic minerals. However, due to its location as a transit country and its open economy, international material flows are greater than materials consumed domestically and Belgium imports almost twice as much as its DMC and exports large amounts of fossil energy, biomass and metals.

Since 2011, DMC has declined under the combined effect of less consumption of construction materials and of metals since 2016. This drop in consumption of metals was due to the renewal of the fleet of a shipping company. The company sold part of its fleet and invested in new vessels, which led to an increase in imports of metal products, but an even greater increase in exports. Consumption of fossil energy declined until 2014 but has increased in 2017 and 2018 because of rising gas imports. As GDP and population increased, the material intensity decreased while productivity increased. The material footprint remains about twice as much as the material intensity.

Biodiversity

Agricultural land occupies the largest part of the territory and has remained relatively stable since 2005. Pressures from urbanisation and fragmentation of land and intensive agricultural practices are high and result in significant biodiversity loss.

Belgium is home to about 55 000 species. The share of threatened species in Belgium is high in particular for freshwater fish, lichens, and reptiles, and the number of common species has declined. Roughly 20-70% of species are threatened per main group of organisms. The most frequently identified pressures on species are agricultural intensification, fragmentation of habitats and resulting loss of connectivity, pollution (especially eutrophication), land take and intensification of forestry.

Protected areas

Belgium has almost met the 2020 Aichi targets (under the Convention on Biological Diversity) to protect at least 17% of land area and far exceeded the 10% target for coastal and marine areas. Terrestrial and marine areas designated as “Protected Landscapes and Seascapes with sustainable use of natural resources” have increased substantially over the past two decades, however, only a limited number of sites have strict management objectives (IUCN categories I and II). About 7.4 % of the country’s land is covered by protected areas that have had management effectiveness assessments and the same is true for 0.2 % of the EEZ. Protected Area Management Effectiveness (PAME) evaluations, can be defined as: “the assessment of how well protected areas are being managed – primarily the extent to which management is protecting values and achieving goals and objectives" (Hockings et al. 2006).

Policy instruments

This section shows selected policy instruments based on data available for most OECD countries and does not provide a complete overview of countries’ policy mix to achieve their environment-related objectives. Interpretation should consider the country specific context.

Environmentally-related taxation

Revenue from environmentally-related taxes has remained relatively stable since 2010, both as a share of GDP and of total tax revenue. The share in GDP, at 1.8%, is above the OECD average, but below the OECD-Europe average. As in many countries, most receipts come from taxes on energy products and on transport. Taxes on pollution such as landfill generate the remaining. Revenue from energy taxes has been rising between 2013 and 2017, mostly due to increased diesel taxation. The relative shares of different tax bases (energy, natural resources, pollution and transport) have not evolved.

Government support to fossil fuels and effective carbon rates (ECR)

Belgium implicitly supports the consumption of fossil fuels through favourable tax treatments for the use of oil products, particularly lower taxation of heating oil and partial refund of excise duty on diesel for commercial use. Forgone revenue from tax concessions rose significantly in the past decade with the increase of excise duties on diesel. Belgium became one of the three OECD members (with Australia and the United Kingdom) to tax diesel and petrol at the same rates in 2019. In 2022, Belgium discontinued some support to low-income households. However, one-off support and new programs introduced in 2022 surpassed the amount discontinued.

Like many other EU countries, Belgium puts a price on GHG emissions via energy taxes and participation in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). About 75% of GHG emissions are priced; only about 23% are priced above 120 EUR/tonne of CO₂. These shares increase to 84% and 24% respectively, when excluding emissions from the combustion of biomass, meaning that most emissions from biomass are less taxed.

Technology and innovation

The share of environmentally-related public R&D budget has been declining in the past two decades, from over 3% in 2000 to less than 1% in 2021. The share of renewable energy in total public energy R&D budget has also been declining. By contrast, the share of environmentally-related patents filed for protection by inventors resident in Belgium has been increasing since 2000, though at a slower rate in recent years, like in the wider OECD area.

Environment-related Official Development Assistance (ODA)

Belgium’s development co-operation prioritises least developed countries and fragile contexts, in particular in sub-Saharan Africa. Belgium’s total official development assistance (ODA) (USD 2.7 billion) increased in 2022 due to an increase in its bilateral aid, and represented 0.45% of gross national income (GNI). In 2020-21, Belgium committed 37.5% of its total bilateral allocable aid (USD 397.8 million) in support of the environment and the Rio Conventions (Development Assistance Committee - DAC countries’ average of 34.3%), down from 42.3% in 2018-19. Eight percent of screened bilateral allocable aid focused on environmental issues as a principal objective, compared with the DAC average of 11.3%. Twenty-six percent of total bilateral allocable aid (USD 281.6 million) focused on climate change overall (the DAC average was 29%), down from 33.8% in 2018-19. Belgium had a larger focus on adaptation (30.5%) than on mitigation (23.2%) than in 2020-21. Seventeen percent of total bilateral allocable aid (USD 135.3 million) focused on biodiversity (compared with the DAC average of 6.5%), up from 14.5% in 2018-19.

References and further reading

CBD (2022), Country profiles: Belgium, https://www.cbd.int/countries/profile/?country=be

OECD (2023), OECD Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels: Country Notes, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/5a3efe65-en

OECD (2023), "Belgium", in Development Co-operation Profiles, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/2dcf1367-en

OECD (2022), OECD Economic Outlook, Volume 2022 Issue 1, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/62d0ca31-en.

OECD (2021), OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Belgium 2021, OECD Environmental Performance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/738553c5-en.

UNEP-WCMC (2024), “Protected Area Profile for Belgium”, the World Database of Protected Areas, www.protectedplanet.net