Belgium Environment - 2024

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)