The particular Belgian state structure makes our country’s climate policy rather complex as the powers are divided between the regions and the federal authorities.
In order to assure the coordination of the Belgian climate policy at national level, a separate body has been created: the National Climate Commission (NCC).
Legal Basis
This National Climate Commission was created in 2002 by a cooperation agreement between the federal state and the three regions. It has been active since 2003 and aims at the internal coordination, the follow-up and assessment of the National Climate Plan and the correct fulfilment of the European and international reporting obligations. Other agreements have also been concluded since then.
Tasks
That is why the main tasks of the NCC are within those domains. They include the following tasks:
- the approval of the official reports by virtue of the UN Climate agreement (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, Decision 280/2004/EC (replaced by Regulation (EU) No 525/2013) and Directive 2003/87/EC
- the evaluation of the co-ordination and the federal and interregional co-operation as well as the degree of implementation and the (ecological, social and economic) impact of the policy and the measures taken on the basis of the National Climate Plan
- the advising of the Coordination Committee for International Environment Policy (CCIEP) and the Interdepartmental Committee on Sustainable Development (ICSD)
- the appointment of Belgian experts to the Roster of Experts (RoE) of the UNFCCC. Those experts participate in the evaluation of the reports of other Parties.
- the approval of project activities as designated national authority (DNA) for JI projects and as focal point (FP) for CDM projects.