At the Municipal Council meeting on 13 October, Pieterjan Vanden Boer presented the following motion on behalf of our group.

The Municipal Council,

Considering that the Municipality of Etterbeek has committed to strengthening its climate ambitions through various plans and conventions such as Agenda 21, the motion declaring the climate and ecological emergency, the signing of the Covenant of Mayors, and its Policy Orientation Note;

Having regard to the 2025–2027 Policy Orientation Note, which identifies as a priority an ambitious, inclusive, and concrete climate transition for Etterbeek, and which endorses the European objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030;

Having regard to the need for Etterbeek to have robust climate analysis tools, in addition to the carbon assessments carried out according to the Brussels Environment methodology, in order to support its climate policy — in particular the Climate Plan and the Carbon Budget;

Considering the innovative nature of the financial approach to climate challenges proposed by the “Climate Budget Tagging” method developed by I4CE (Institute for Climate Economics), which classifies public expenditure according to its impact on the path toward climate neutrality by 2050;

Considering the pioneering character of implementing a climate budget assessment in Belgium;

Considering that the workload related to this analysis will primarily fall on the Climate Coordinator, and that other municipal departments — in particular the Finance Department — will be called upon to provide existing information;

DECIDES

• To approve the implementation of the I4CE Climate Budget Assessment method, allowing municipal expenditures to be classified according to their impact on the trajectory toward climate neutrality by 2050;
• To apply this method to municipal accounts prior to 2025 (starting with the 2024 fiscal year), in order to consolidate its use within the municipality in an initial phase, and ultimately to also analyse ongoing budgets;
• To entrust the Climate Coordinator with the execution of this analysis, supported by the data provided by the Finance Department;
• To take note of the necessary interdepartmental collaboration, aimed at supplementing the information required for the classification of expenditures for which accounting data must be enriched with content details provided by the relevant departments.