This project analyses why the Flemish “climate leap” – the plan to decarbonise heavy industry by 90% by 2040 – is not getting off the ground. Jelle De Mey, Bart Grugeon Plana & Thomas Goorden identify four structural problems:
- The carbon market (EU ETS) is not working: it remains cheaper for companies to buy emission rights than to invest in greening.
- Carbon storage (CCS) is too expensive and uncertain. Capturing and storing carbon costs up to 200 euros per tonne of CO₂, while Flanders itself has no storage capacity and is dependent on neighbouring countries.
- Electrification requires a doubling of electricity production and much cheaper green energy – something that is not going to happen for the time being due to a lack of new wind turbines and uncertainty about nuclear energy.
- Funding is dramatically insufficient. The recently announced €2 billion over 10 years is only a fraction of what is needed.
They conclude that it remains unclear whether public funds will be used effectively for climate transition, or whether they will mainly serve to prolong the fossil fuel industry at the expense of the taxpayer.
