VZW Klimaatzaak v Kingdom of Belgium

The Francophone court of first instance in Brussels ruled that the Belgian federal government and the regional governments of Wallonia, Brussels, and Flanders breached their duty of care under the Belgian Civil Code and violated Articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court found this breach was based on ineffective climate governance, mixed results in emission reductions, and ignored warnings from the European Union. However, the court rejected the plaintiffs' request to set specific binding emission targets, citing the principle of separation of powers. The case is currently pending following an appeal filed on 17 November 2021.

• The court ruled that the Belgian federal government and the regional governments of Wallonia, Brussels, and Flanders breached their duty of care under Article 1382 of the Belgian Civil Code and failed to protect the lives and privacy of plaintiffs as required by Articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
• The breach of duty of care was attributed to three factors: inconsistent results in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a lack of effective climate governance, and the government's failure to act despite repeated warnings from the European Union since 2011 regarding Belgium's failure to meet climate objectives.
• The court refused to impose specific binding greenhouse gas emission targets—which the plaintiffs requested for 2025, 2030, and 2050—stating that doing so would violate the principle of separation of powers by removing the public authority's discretion.
• The court determined that Articles 6 and 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) do not impose a positive obligation on signatory states, as the wording of these provisions allows states freedom in how they achieve the stated objectives.

APA

admin (2025). VZW Klimaatzaak v Kingdom of Belgium. ClimaTalk. https://climatalk.org/2025/08/11/vzw-klimaatzaak-v-kingdom-of-belgium/

Chicago

admin. VZW Klimaatzaak v Kingdom of Belgium. ClimaTalk, 2025. https://climatalk.org/2025/08/11/vzw-klimaatzaak-v-kingdom-of-belgium/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=admin |title=VZW Klimaatzaak v Kingdom of Belgium |publisher=ClimaTalk |date=11 August 2025 |url=https://climatalk.org/2025/08/11/vzw-klimaatzaak-v-kingdom-of-belgium/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{admin2025vzw, author = {admin}, title = {{VZW Klimaatzaak v Kingdom of Belgium}}, institution = {ClimaTalk}, year = {2025}, month = aug, url = {https://climatalk.org/2025/08/11/vzw-klimaatzaak-v-kingdom-of-belgium/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }