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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…

On Friday, 3 March 2023, the Council of Ministers took note of the final version of the federal adaptation measures 2023-2026 proposed by Federal Minister for Climate Zakia Khattabi. A coherent package of 28 measures that aims at a climate resilient society by 2050.

Federal Environment Minister Zakia Khattabi presented her federal biocides reduction plan to the Council of Ministers today. The draft royal decree approved by the Vivaldi government is based on the precautionary principle and aims at a high level of protection of human, animal and environmental health, with particular attention to the protection of vulnerable groups.

Led by ministers Zakia Khattabi and Hadja Lahbib, Belgium is officially co-sponsoring Vanuatu's UNGA resolution that will seek an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the obligations of states with regard to climate change . On this basis, the International Court of Justice will formulate an opinion on the legal implications for states, especially with regard to small island states and current and future generations, concerning the damage they are causing to the…

The Court of Justice of the European Union has issued yesterday a judgment on pesticide exemptions prohibited in Europe, which several Member States continue to extend year after year. The Court confirms that there is abuse in the recourse to derogations. 

 On 19 December 2022, the international community reached an agreement in Montreal on a global framework for the protection of biodiversity. For federal environment minister and head of delegation for Belgium at COP15, Zakia Khattabi, Montreal was to be for biodiversity what Paris was for climate: the beginning of ambitious and coordinated cooperation for biodiversity protection and restoration. "Last night's agreement lives up to that expectation. The 30*30 target was adopted and…

On this International Day of No Pesticide Use, which commemorates one of the world's biggest industrial disasters in Bhopal, India, in which thousands of people were killed due to a gas leak from a pesticide factory, Federal Minister of the Environment, Zakia Khattabi, announces a draft royal decree to ban the export of hazardous pesticides made and delivered by Belgium to countries in the south, but prohibited in Europe. The text, ratified last week by the…

The Federal Minister for the Environment, Zakia Khattabi, launches this Friday a consultation of various advisory councils (consumer, sustainable development, economy, health) and stakeholders on new proposals regarding single-use plastics. The aim is to reduce the amount of disposable plastic waste and packaging containing toxic substances, while at the same time supporting reuse and recycling.

Ahead of COP15 on biodiversity to be held in Montreal (Canada) from 7 to 19 December, the Federal Minister for the Environment officially launched the BiodiversiScape project on Thursday, 24 November. This initiative aims at promoting biodiversity in federal properties and lands.

During the COP27 in Charm el-Cheikh, federal Climate Minister Zakia Khattabi announced funding for two international co-operation programs aimed at helping developing countries meet their commitments under the Paris Agreement; 2 million euros will go to NDC Partnership and 1.25 million euros to the UNDP Climate Promise project. This is the second phase of a partnership that began last year.