Belgium adopts an ambitious federal plan for sustainable development
At the instigation of the Federal Minister of Sustainable Development, Zakia Khattabi, the Council of Ministers approved the Federal Plan for Sustainable Development (FPSD) on Friday, October 1st. A document that comes on the occasion of the first anniversary of the government, within the legally stipulated period, provides a governance framework based on the SDGs and responds ambitiously to the "Decade of Action" of the United Nations: a call to accelerate, by 2030, the implementation of solutions to meet the global challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Despite being a legal obligation under the law of May 5th 1997, the previous federal plan dates back to the period 2004-2008. It was led by Secretary of State Olivier Deleuze. Ever since, no new plan had been approved by the federal government.
"I am delighted to see that this situation has finally been rectified. It is crucial that we, at our own level, can accelerate the implementation of sustainable solutions to the major challenges facing the world," said the Minister. "The plan, which has previously gone through a public consultation, does not only cover the three classic pillars of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental). It also puts forward proposals and lines of thinking on other cross-cutting themes such as gender and the principle of 'leaving no one behind'."
The plan focuses on interministerial action on sustainable development and clearly shows that, for the Vivaldi government, sustainable development –just like climate change - is everyone's business.
Among the many measures integrated in the Plan are the strengthening of an integrated and coordinated climate approach. The "One World, One Health" principle, aiming to protect citizens and their environment equally against various harmful substances (hormone disruptors, etc.). The development of a sustainable financing strategy in order to redirect financial flows towards sustainable investments. The integration of the gender dimension in federal public policies in order to take into account the different situations of women and men. The development of an alternative mobility budget granted by the employer for workers who do not own a company car, as well as the strengthening and simplification of the existing mobility budget.
