Governments around the world are under mounting pressure to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Out of 169 SDG targets, only 17% are on track, according to The United Nations Global Sustainable Development Report 2024. Complex global challenges and existential risks such as climate change, biodiversity loss, economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions are adding to the urgency. In the Pact for the Future countries recognise that “the well-being of current and future generations and the sustainability of our planet rests on our willingness to take action”.
Belgium is a federal state comprising three communities (Flemish, French and German-speaking) and three regions (Wallonia, Flanders and Brussels-Capital). While all levels of government work actively to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this report focuses on federal policies and institutional mechanisms used to accelerate and track progress. It assesses Belgium’s institutional mechanisms at the federal level against the OECD Recommendation on Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD, hereafter “the PCSD Recommendation”) and its three pillars: political commitment and long-term vision; mechanisms to manage policy interactions; and tools to anticipate and address policy impacts.
Belgium, currently developing its next five-year Federal Plan for Sustainable Development (FPSD), has put in place sound legal and strategic frameworks for sustainable development. The federal Act of 5 May 1997, and subsequent amendments, establishes an institutional framework for regular planning, consulting, implementing, monitoring and reporting on federal measures that promote sustainable development. This legal framework mandates a continuous cycle of five-year Federal Plans for Sustainable Development, which include actions and measures to meet European and international commitments and align with Belgium’s federal Long-Term Vision (LTV) for Sustainable Development to 2050. The LTV, however, predates the SDGs and does not fully reflect today’s global challenges. Belgium’s legal framework provides ongoing support and reflection on actions related specifically to on policy coherence for development (PCD).
The commitment to sustainable development is outlined in Article 7bis of the Belgian Constitution, which calls on the federal state, communities and regions, in exercising their respective powers, “to contribute to achieving sustainable development across social, economic, and environmental dimensions while considering intergenerational solidarity”. However, despite the legal foundation for and experience with PCSD, explicit political commitment to PCSD remains unclear. Moreover, while public budgets do allocate resources toward sustainable development priorities, they are not directly associated with the implementation of the SDGs. The effectiveness and efficiency of Belgium’s resource allocation could be improved by measuring the financial commitment to achieving the SDGs.
Belgium has four main institutional mechanisms at the federal level responsible for designing and managing systematic processes and co-ordination mechanisms to promote sustainable development. Efforts have also been made to foster vertical coherence among federal, regional and community levels through mechanisms such as the Interministerial Conference for Sustainable Development. However, co‑ordination across government levels is complex, and the 2017 National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) carries less weight than strategies at the federal and regional levels.
Belgium has a strong culture of stakeholder engagement, with several bodies facilitating dialogue with various societal groups. A more systematic, inclusive, and transparent framework for engagement could enhance the breadth and quality of stakeholder contributions, ensuring they meaningfully shape sustainable development policies.
Regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) are mandatory in Belgium for all primary and some subordinate legislation submitted to the Council of Ministers at the federal level. However, current RIA tools are sometimes regarded as “tick-box” exercises by government officials who are responsible for using them, without real compliance checks and enforcement measures.
Belgium’s commitment to the SDGs is commendable, and efforts are being made to enhance PCSD across all three pillars of the OECD PCSD Recommendation, including through this project. The findings and possible ways ahead outlined in this report and summarised below provide input to Belgium’s next FPSD. They aim to guide Belgian policymakers in prioritising concrete actions for enhancing policy coherence in pursuing sustainable development priorities.