Details
- Publication date
- 24 June 2024
- Author
- Directorate-General for Climate Action
- Country
- Belgium
Description
Key Learnings
- A holistic approach ensures systemic change: To better balance supply and demand, the Blue Deal simultaneously tackles water availability and more efficient water use.
- Engaging a broad set of actors to achieve high ambitions: The Blue Deal ensures commitment at different levels by investing, regulating, and stimulating innovation.
- A forward-looking approach speeds up investments: A wide range of programmes, projects, and measures provide multiple benefits, both in the short and long-term. The Blue Deal accelerates investment and provides coherent financial and regulatory support.
- Building with nature: By investing in the restoration of wetlands and in Nature-based Solutions, droughts and water scarcity are managed simultaneously while biodiversity is boosted.
- A long-term effort: The innovative policy is anchored by a Blue Deal decree to sustain efforts in the long term.
Summary
In 2020, the Flemish Government launched the Blue Deal to improve the climate resilience of its water system and the balance between water supply and demand. The Deal focuses on water availability and more efficient water use. Broad support is necessary to achieve the action programme's high ambitions.
By investing in, regulating, and stimulating innovation, the Blue Deal ensures commitment to implementing the actions. Its approach speeds up investment through numerous programmes, projects, and measures benefitting nature, agriculture, and the environment. Actions such as wetland creation and the implementation of Nature-based Solutions to restore the sponge function of the subsoil enable water to infiltrate and replenish the supplies. Droughts and water scarcity are managed while biodiversity is boosted. Other measures involve less and smarter water use or other water sources, like rainwater or purified wastewater
The Blue Deal uses financial incentives and various tools to encourage and support the involvement of multiple stakeholders. As a result, the initiative has led to the restoration of over 6,300 hectares of wetlands, the redesign of more than 88 kilometres of watercourses, the adaptation of 113 hectares of paved surfaces to enhance rainwater infiltration, and the reuse of 24 billion litres of purified wastewater for cooling or industrial processes.
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