Regions agree on burden sharing for 2020 climate and energy goals

After six years of negotiation, the three regions of Belgium – Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels – have come to an agreement on how they will divide up the responsibility for the country to reach its climate goals by the 2020 deadline, known as burden sharing.

In December, the regions and the federal government agreed on the reduction each region would make in its emissions of greenhouse gases: Flanders would reduce emissions by 15.7% of 2013 levels, Wallonia by 14.7% and Brussels by 8.8%.

The latest agreement concerns the tariffs to be paid if one region fails to meet its target, when it would be able to buy up a portion from another region that has gone over its target. The price would be based on the price of onshore wind energy on the day, with a discount of 25% for the first portion of 750 gigawatt hours (GWh), on a sliding scale down to 5% on a portion between 3,000 and 3,500 GWh.

“The good co-operation between the regions has borne fruit,” said Flemish energy minister Bart Tommelein, who represented Flanders with climate minister Joke Schauvliege. “I’m very happy with this agreement on solidarity between the regions, although our first priority is of course for Flanders to achieve its own targets for 2020.”

Photo: Ingimage