BELGIAN SCIENCE
FOR
CLIMATE ACTION
17-18 March 2026
CONFERENCE
📍 Royal Museums of Fine Arts
🎤 Fully in-person event
Please note that registration will open in January 2026. The full programme, detailing all sessions and speakers, will be published at the same time.
Achieving climate neutrality and just transition in Belgium
Navigating Belgium's path to a climate-neutral society demands a united effort.
To ensure this transition is both effective and fair, the conference will bring together Belgian scientists and stakeholders, including policymakers, businesses, the media, and other interested individuals from the public and private sectors. With a mix of scientific presentations and stakeholder-oriented panels, the conference aims to create a broad societal dialogue and to develop a common understanding of the challenges and socio-economic implications of the transition to a climate-neutral society.
The event will be a unique opportunity to provide access to state-of-the-art scientific information on challenges, strategies and innovative approaches to achieve climate neutrality in Belgium and discuss answers to questions such as:
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What are the challenges of decarbonisation in Belgium?
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How can we achieve the transition to a climate-neutral and resilient society in a fair and efficient way?
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What are the most effective technological and socio-economic solutions to implement in order to achieve decarbonisation across different sectors?
Keynotes
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Prof. Dr. Samantha Burgess: State of the climate system: insights on European and global climate trends on warming, extremes, and impacts
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Prof. Dr. Myles Allen: Geological Net Zero: How we will stop climate change – eventually
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Prof. Dr. Heleen de Coninck: Societal transitions towards a net-zero world
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Prof. Dr. Katherine Richardson: The climate change crisis cannot be tackled in isolation from other anthropogenic activities
Scientific sessions
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Climate finance and economic instruments - Chair: Marie Lambert (ULiège)
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Climate neutrality and just transition in the electricity sector - Chair: Francesco Contino (UCLouvain)
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Developing climate neutrality in the transport sector: opportunities and challenges - Chair: Edwin van Hassel (University of Antwerp)
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Effective climate services for better decisions - Chair: Nele Veldeman (VITO)
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Enabling a just transition towards climate neutrality - Chair: Aurore Fransolet (ULB)
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The behavioural science of climate action - Chair: Ruth Krebs (UGhent)
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The interplay between climate change and ecosystems - Chair: Wannes Hubau (Royal Museum for Central Africa)
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Trajectory towards climate neutrality in Belgium - Chair: Julien Pestiaux (CLIMACT)
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Circular economy: towards climate neutral production and consumption patterns in Belgium - Chair: Karel Van Acker (KU Leuven)
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Climate neutrality and just transition in the agro-food sector - Chair: Anton Riera (UCLouvain)
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Just transition to a low carbon building sector - Chair: Karen Allacker (KU Leuven)
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Advancing climate neutrality and a just transition in the industrial sector - Chair: John Dams (The Shift)
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Institutional capacity, democracy, and legal issues - Chair: Delphine Misonne (UCLouvain)
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Latest advances in physical climate science - Chair: Nicole van Lipzig (KU Leuven)
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Potential of carbon management solutions - Chair: Kris Piessens (Institute of Natural Sciences)
Transversal sessions
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Belgian Climate Centre FAQs
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How to better communicate climate science to policy? - Chair: Bart Rymen (IPCC National focal Point, Belspo)
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Overview of the job opportunities outside academia for early career researchers - Chair: Laurence Theunis (ADOC Talent Management)
photo: CERAU