The Belgian delegation to the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November will not include a Walloon minister.
This is the first time 10 years that this has happened, with the last time having been at COP20 in Lima, Peru. The new Walloon Environment Minister is Cécile Neven, from the centre-right Mouvement Reformateur (MR) party.
Since the historic COP21 which saw the adoption of the 2016 Paris Agreement – which aimed at keeping global warming well below +2°C, with an aim of keeping it +1.5°C – at least one Walloon minister has always taken part in the annual high point of the fight against climate change.
The new Walloon Minister for Energy, Airports, the Air-Climate Plan and Housing, Cécile Neven (MR), justified her decision not to attend the conference by saying that she wanted to stay in Namur "to concentrate on the regional priorities" for which she is responsible, "in particular the implementation of the Air-Climate Plan."
COP29 will be held this year on 11 November - 22 November in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Barely 5% of the measures in the Plan, which was adopted in March 2023, have been implemented to date.
Neven also noted that the federal climate minister would lead the Belgian delegation in Baku, while the Brussels climate minister would represent Belgium at the European coordination meetings at COP29.
Belgium's Prime Minister to address the summit on Tuesday
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo will be travelling to Baku, as will federal ministers Zakia Khattabi (Climate, Environment) and Tinne Van der Straeten (Energy).
For Brussels-Capital Region, which has yet to form a government following the recent elections, outgoing Minister for Climate Transition, Environment and Energy, Alain Maron, will be present in the Azeri capital.
The Belgian delegation will be made up of around 140 people, including public servants and experts, but also representatives of civil society and youth, business leaders, etc. This is fewer than the 170 members of the black-yellow-red delegation at COP28 last year in Dubai.
As usual, the political launch of the UN Climate Conference will be the high-level summit bringing together dozens of heads of state and government on 12 and 13 November. The Belgian Prime Minister is due to deliver his speech at COP29 on Tuesday 12 November.
Tens of thousands of participants are expected in Baku, where negotiations will focus on setting a new climate financing target to enable developing countries to mitigate global warming and cope with its consequences.
The existing target of $100 billion a year was not met until 2022, two years late, by the developed countries, to the dismay of the countries of the South.
