Policy

Belgian Federal Minister of Climate and Environment, Zakia Khattabi, expresses her deep concern and anger following today’s vote in the European Parliament’s plenary. As COP 29 began this Monday in Baku and Spain faces an unprecedented environmental disaster, the one-year delay in the enforcement of the law against imported deforestation is, in the federal minister’s view, an irresponsible act and an extremely negative signal to the entire international community.

On the proposal of Federal Minister for Sustainable Development Zakia Khattabi and Minister for Foreign Affairs Hadja Lahbib, the Council of Ministers on Friday 5 April approved the new national action plan for business and human rights for the period 2024-2029. The implementation of this plan applies on the one hand to Belgian companies operating in Belgium and/or abroad, and on the other hand to international companies operating within our country. With its "mirror clause" approach,…

On Monday, an international ministerial conference on climate change will be held in Copenhagen.The first conference since COP27, that took place last November at Sharm al-Sheikh, will be hosted for two days by the current and incoming Presidencies of the Conference of the Parties on Climate, namely Egypt and United Arab Emirates. Organized to assess COP27, the Belgian Federal Minister for Climate and Chief of Delegation, Zakia Khattabi, will attend both days of work with the firm intention of…

Monday, September 12th, the Federal Minister for the Environment, Zakia Khattabi, submitted her draft law on the "Repair Index" to the different consultative bodies: industry, retail, NGOs and civil society. Inspired by the French model, this legislation, which is in line with the circular economy dynamic, aims to increase the repairability and lifetime of devices while providing consumers with the best possible information about these aspects.

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 Sustainable Development Goals will serve as a compass for federal policy. At the proposal of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Minister of Sustainable Development Zakia Khattabi, the Council of Ministers has agreed that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should be included in all general policy notes. Thanks to their systemic approach, the SDGs provide an excellent framework to develop more sustainable, integrated and coherent policies and…

On the occasion of the International Day of Biodiversity on May 22, Minister of the Environment, Zakia Khattabi, recalls that the protection and restoration of biodiversity is a key priority in order to in order to safeguard life on earth The current crisis has clearly exposed the interconnectedness between human health and the health of our planet, yet public awareness of biodiversity challenges fails to reach the mainstream and our collective…