A giant 11-metre thermometer appeared on Tuesday morning at the Place De Brouckère square in Brussels to promote a climate awareness campaign spearheaded by the Coalition Climate.
From 11:00, passers-by observed an enormous thermometer erected on the building’s facade. The act marked the start of the "Every Tenth of a Degree Counts" campaign, aimed at urging political leaders and the younger generation to realise our potential to prevent worst-case climate scenarios.
"We offer concrete solutions to effectively combat the climate crisis," stated Nicolas Van Nuffel, President of the Coalition Climate, in a press statement. Their message to Belgian and European leaders is straightforward. "Dare to face the truth and act accordingly to help us move collectively towards a safer world – where wellbeing, cooperation and sustainability take centre stage," added Van Nuffel.
The campaign focuses on six major demands to the Belgian Government and the European Union. These include the restoration of nature (by the law bearing the same name), the establishment of a "housing and energy pact," undertaking a "fair" transition, and the halting of fossil fuel subsidies.
As stated in the sixth report by scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in March 2023, limiting global warming to 1.5 to 2 degrees requires "rapid, deep and, in most cases, immediate reductions of greenhouse gas emissions."
Credit: Belga / Laurie Dieffembacq
The Climate Coalition is urging Belgium and the EU to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. This could be done by implementing nature restoration laws and promoting more sustainable farming that respects farmers and the planet’s boundaries.
It is also recommending that the Belgian authorities introduce a “housing and energy pact,” which would support citizens to live in environmentally-friendly, healthy homes. This can be accomplished by concrete measures like securing the insulation of Belgian homes by 2040.
A “fair transition” forms the crux of this campaign. The Coalition therefore urges Belgium to foster dialogue between the workforce and company management and evaluate the socio-economic impacts of the ecological transition in the relevant sectors.
“The final piece missing for Belgium to progress in this transition is a climate law, a legislative tool that would unlock these negotiation knots (between different regions and power levels) hindering us from moving forward and being more ambitious in responding to the emergency,” emphasised Nicolas Bormann, Advocacy Coordinator of the Climate Coalition, on Tuesday.
On 3 December, a Climate March will take place in the Belgian capital, initiated by the Coalition, "to demand that concrete measures are taken".
