Climate: LEZ maintained, Renolution replaced, targets pending

Air quality: improvement confirmed over ten years, exceedances persist on road corridors (2025 annual report)

Brussels Environment's 2025 annual report, published mid-July 2026, confirms an improvement in air quality in Brussels over the past ten years. Current EU standards are met at all measuring stations in 2025. Concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, ozone, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide continue to fall and comply with both current standards and the future EU 2030 standards. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) has met current standards at all telemetry stations for the 6th consecutive year.

Exceedances persist, however, along busy road corridors, relative to the future EU 2030 standards and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, which are stricter than current regulatory standards.

Sources: Cabinet of Ans Persoons, official press release (July 2026); L'Avenir (16 July 2026); DH (15 July 2026). Confidence: official (direct institutional press release from the cabinet of the Secretary of State for the Environment, relaying Brussels Environment's official annual report).

Coalition Agreement: Announced Commitments

The agreement of 12 February 2026 sets environmental measures but does not define new climate targets:

• LEZ maintained: the schedule for future phases is unchanged. Financial parameters are attenuated: annual pass at EUR 350 (social rate EUR 200), fine reduced from EUR 350 to EUR 80
• Renolution replaced by zero-interest loans (EUR 200M) — impact on energy renovation to be assessed
• Brownfield sites preserved: Wiels, Avijl, Donderberg protected; 18-month moratorium on 4 other sites
• Vivaqua-Hydria merger: water management consolidated, recapitalisation of EUR 180 million — given concrete form on 11 June 2026 (the Region a 49% shareholder, transfer of Hydria's storm basins and collector sewers to Vivaqua, see Vivaqua dossier)
• EUR 30 million for the water merger transition

Ambiguous signal: the removal of Renolution (replaced by loans) and the absence of new CO2 targets do not allow the climate trajectory to be considered unblocked. The DPR does not set a new CO2 target beyond the existing PACE. The replacement of Renolution by zero-interest loans and the absence of a dedicated energy transition budget are ambiguous signals for the climate trajectory.

Social Climate Plan: Brussels government agreement in principle (7 July 2026)

The Brussels government reached an agreement in principle on a Social Climate Plan, announced on 7 July 2026 by Secretary of State for the Environment Ans Persoons (Vooruit), with Secretary of State for Housing Karine Lalieux (PS) involved in the housing component. The plan falls under the EU's Social Climate Fund mechanism ("Fit for 55"): the Region must combine its contribution with the Flemish, Walloon and federal plans into a single Belgian submission to the European Commission, whose review can take up to around five months (approval hoped for by end of 2026, subject to the availability of ETS2 carbon-market revenue).

Total budget: EUR 226.5 million over 2026-2032, financed 75% by the EU (~EUR 169.5M) and 25% by the Region (~EUR 56.5M). A subset of around EUR 150 million is earmarked for housing: energy-renovation premiums (EUR 71M), social-housing renovation (EUR 58M), and zero-interest renovation loans (EUR 21.7M).

Target population: households among the 30% lowest incomes, for buildings rated EPC F or G; social-housing tenants; vulnerable micro-enterprises (building renovation, lower-emission installations, electric-vehicle purchases).

Other announced measures: a new low-emission tram link between Belgica and Bruxelles-Nord; a new public long-term bike-rental scheme with interest-free purchase loans.

What to note: this is an agreement in principle, not a finally adopted measure. No source mentions a Brussels Parliament vote at this stage; the only milestone cited is review by the European Commission. This plan partly addresses a gap BGM flagged in late June: the Region still had no social climate plan a year after the EU deadline.

Sources: RTBF (7 July 2026); BX1 (7 July 2026); La Libre (7 July 2026); La DH/Les Sports+ (7 July 2026); BRUZZ (7 July 2026). Confidence: official (agreement in principle reported identically by 5 independent sources); unconfirmed (precise budget breakdown of the tram/bike/micro-enterprise measures, not detailed in the press).

June heatwave: 159 additional deaths in Brussels (Sciensano, 8 July 2026)

Sciensano, the federal public health institute, published its analysis on 8 July 2026 of excess mortality during the heatwave from 18 June to 1 July 2026: 159 additional deaths in Brussels, a 60.9% increase over expected mortality for the period. Wallonia (919 deaths, +76%) and Flanders (682 deaths, +31.4%) were more affected in absolute numbers, but the Brussels rate exceeds Flanders'. Nationally, excess mortality reached 1,747 deaths (+47.8%), the worst heatwave episode recorded since measurements began in 2000, surpassing the August 2020 heatwave (557 deaths, +37.5%).

Sciensano attributes the scale of the phenomenon to three concurrent factors: the duration of the episode, high temperatures (peaking at ~35°C over three days), and ozone concentrations exceeding 100 µg/m³ for ten consecutive days. The federal "high heat and ozone peaks" plan was active from 15 June to 1 July. This mortality toll adds to the 400+ SIAMU medical interventions already reported during the episode (see above), and the absence, until 7 July, of a finalised regional social climate plan.

Sources: BX1 — excess mortality hit Brussels and Wallonia harder than Flanders (8 July 2026) ; BRUZZ — 159 additional deaths in Brussels (8 July 2026). Confidence: official (Sciensano).

Green zones: appeal against construction freeze

On 20 March 2026, the Brussels government announced it is filing an appeal against the October 2025 ruling that imposed a construction freeze in the Region's green zones. The stated reason is the pursuit of legal clarity.

The October 2025 ruling had suspended all new construction in Brussels' green zones. The appeal aims to restore the possibility of building in some of these zones. This initiative has drawn criticism from environmental associations, which view it as a setback for green space protection.

This development should be considered alongside the coalition agreement's commitment to protect certain brownfield sites (Wiels, Avijl, Donderberg): the appeal concerns a broader legal framework than the sites specifically named in the agreement.

Aircraft noise: cease-and-desist action against the use of the RNP-07 route (11 June 2026)

On 11 June 2026, the Brussels council of ministers approved, on a proposal from the State Secretary for Climate, the introduction of a cease-and-desist action against the federal State concerning the intensive use of the RNP-07 approach route to Brussels Airport. The procedure can lead to penalty payments charged to the Belgian State in case of violation of Brussels noise standards during landings on runway 07L.

Arguments put forward by the Region:

• the route, announced in September 2025 as a test phase, risks in its view being made permanent without consultation with Brussels stakeholders;
• according to a ULB study reported by the press, more than 270,000 people are affected by the noise of this approach route — up to 400,000 when including residents under runway 07R;
• according to regional sound-level meters, 96% of flights exceed Brussels noise standards (the 'aircraft noise' decree).

An earlier cease-and-desist action already covers landings on runway 01, with penalty payments charged to the federal level. The State Secretary says she acknowledges 'the economic importance of the airport' and argues for 'a fair distribution' of overflights. This litigation pits the Region against the federal government just as the early-June meeting between the federal Minister for Mobility and the Brussels mayors on noise pollution ended without progress.

Sources: BRUZZ, La Libre, Trends-Tendances (11-12 June 2026). Confidence: unconfirmed (decision communicated, claim not publicly filed).

Energy policy (DPR, chapter 9)

Beyond Renolution and the LEZ, the DPR sets out several energy commitments:

• Energy communities: establishment of a legal framework for renewable energy communities, enabling local sharing of solar-generated electricity
• District heating networks: development of a master plan for urban district heating networks
• Biomethanisation: launch of a pilot project for biomethanisation of organic waste
• PACE: updating of the Air-Climate-Energy Plan, the regional strategic framework for the energy transition

These commitments have not yet been translated into concrete measures.

Municipal initiatives

The City of Brussels voted in December 2025 to remove the Temporary Road Occupation Tax (OTVP) for the installation of photovoltaic panels (max. 5 m², 2 working days). It is the first Brussels municipality to adopt this measure. Other municipalities have not followed suit at this stage.

Water management and climate adaptation

IEB's opinion (November 2025) on the future Water Management Plan (WMP 2028-2033) identifies several water-climate nexus challenges:

• GIEP (Integrated Stormwater Management): a key lever for climate adaptation according to IEB, but completely underfunded — budgets in the previous WMP remain far below allocations for pipe networks
• Overflows: approximately 10 Mm³/year of mixed water (rainwater + wastewater) is discharged into the hydrographic network (Canal and Senne), polluting aquatic environments
• Quaternary treatment mandatory by 2039 to remove emerging pollutants (antibiotics, pesticides, hormones) from treated water
• Extended polluter-pays: under the EU Urban Wastewater Directive, producers of environmentally harmful substances (pharmaceuticals, cosmetics) must cover at least 80% of quaternary treatment costs by 31/12/2028

Source: IEB, opinion on future challenges of Brussels water policy, 14 November 2025.

Asian hornets: 2026 trapping campaign

Brussels Environment has distributed over 4,000 traps to the 19 Brussels municipalities for the 2026 spring trapping campaign, running from 16 March to 1 May. The objective is to capture founding queens before they establish new nests. The Asian hornet (Vespa velutina), an invasive species, threatens local pollinators (bees, bumblebees).

Property owners are responsible for neutralising nests on their land. Nests in public spaces can be reported via Fix My Street. Weather conditions (temperature >13°C) determine trapping effectiveness.

Sources: La Libre, BX1 (16 March 2026).

PFAS: Soil and Water Contamination

82 contaminated plots have been identified in the Brussels Region (47 soil, 55 groundwater). The Sicli site in Uccle shows levels up to 1,058× the standard. TFA is detected in all 6 drinking water reservoirs, with 97% of analyses exceeding the EU standard (in force since January 2026). The Environment Council calls for an integrated framework (February 2026).

Source: Brussels Environment, 2025-2026.