Belgian industry’s CO2 emissions have never been so low, thanks to the financial crisis | Economy

The large, energy-intensive companies in our country emitted 4.26 million tons of greenhouse gases less last year than a year earlier, a decrease of 10.5 percent. The figure is measured in CO2 equivalents, a measure that converts the impact of all greenhouse gases together into the impact in CO2. At the European level, the decline was even more pronounced, by 15.5 percent.

The figures refer to companies that fall within the European Emissions Trading System (ETS). These are the major cement and steel producers, chemical installations, refineries, power stations and airlines for intra-European flights. They must be able to produce an emission allowance for every tonne they emit. This is kept in the greenhouse gas register. The figures come from the annual update of that data.

In Belgium, more than 280 industrial installations and power plants are subject to emissions trading. Together with intra-European flights, they represent approximately 40 percent of all CO2 emissions in our country.

This is mainly due to the malaise in the industry. Due to high energy prices and weak demand, many industrial companies scaled back production. The decline in used production capacity in the chemicals sector is illustrative. This fell to the lowest level ever and fluctuated between 65 and 73 percent for the whole of 2023, according to figures from the umbrella organization Essenscia.

In addition, industry has started to produce energy more efficiently. While production in the chemicals, plastics and pharmaceutical sectors increased by 77 percent since 2004, greenhouse gas emissions remained stable. Finally, two large industrial installations were shut down last year for maintenance work, the Flemish Energy and Climate Agency indicates.

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