Alain Maron, Minister of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, responsible for Climate Change, Environment, Energy and Participatory Democracy. PHOTO AUDE VANLATHEM, 04 OCT 2022.

Brussels Capital Region (Belgium)

Belgium and Brussels-Capital Region’s inclusive support to the Adaptation Fund

The first round of support from the Brussels-Capital Region was provided in 2013-2014, when the Adaptation Fund launched a call for support during the COP 19 in Warsaw, Poland. The four ministers of environment in Belgium, representing the federal government and the governments of the three regions, answered the call promptly by providing jointly EUR 3,25 million. By doing so, Belgium helped closing the funding gap of the Adaptation Fund, a consequence of the low resources coming from the share of proceeds from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project activities, the initial source of funding of the Adaptation Fund.

During the next years, Regional governments in Belgium (including the Brussels-Capital, Walloon and Flanders Regions) have consistently pledged to the Adaptation Fund, contributing a total of nearly US$ 58 million to the Fund. The collective involvement of local, regional and national governments is increasingly crucial in the urgent and global fight against climate change.

Brussels-Capital Region’s climate finance strategy is highly focused on supporting adaptation actions in the most vulnerable countries to the impact of climate change. Adaptation is a key component of the long-term global response to climate change to protect people, livelihoods and ecosystems. This is why the Brussels-Capital Region considers that it is important to support countries and communities in the development of adaptation solutions and the implementation of actions to respond to the current and future impacts of climate change.

Besides the support via bilateral projects and programs in developing partner countries, the Adaptation Fund is an important channel of multilateral adaptation support by the Brussels-Capital Region to the countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. According to the Brussels-Capital Region, the Adaptation Fund – through its structure and direct responsiveness to the needs of developing countries – has a key role in helping vulnerable communities in developing countries to adapt to climate change. A role that remains key to achieve the objectives set by the Paris Agreement.

The Brussels-Capital Region is therefore a historical contributor to the Adaptation Fund and has disbursed over EUR 10 million from 2013-2023. These successive contributions illustrate the fact that the Adaptation Fund is a key partner in the implementation of the Region’s commitment to provide climate finance, in line with country needs, vision and priorities. In its bilateral climate finance, the Brussels-Capital Region also focuses on adaptation needs, with more than half of bilateral projects dedicated to adaptation policy.

This information has been provided by the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region.

Contributions to the Adaptation Fund

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