Belgium Environment - 2024

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

intense pressures from human activities: urbanization, dense transportation network, industry, extensive animal breeding and crop cultivation; air and water pollution also have repercussions for neighboring countries

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

temperate; mild winters, cool summers; rainy, humid, cloudy

Land use

agricultural land: 44.1% (2018 est.)

arable land: 27.2% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.8% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 16.1% (2018 est.)

forest: 22.4% (2018 est.)

other: 33.5% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 98.2% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 0.38% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.02% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 11.26 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 96.89 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 7.78 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 4.708 million tons (2015 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 1,614,985 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 34.3% (2015 est.)

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Seine (78,919 sq km), Rhine-Maas (198,735 sq km)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 740 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 3.47 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 50 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

18.3 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Geoparks

total global geoparks and regional networks: 1

global geoparks and regional networks: Famenne-Ardenne (2023)

NOTE: The information regarding Belgium on this page is re-published from the 2024 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Belgium 2024 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Belgium 2024 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.