October 16, 2025
The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere increased by a record amount in 2024, potentially further warming the planet and leading to more extreme climate events. The concentration of greenhouse gases in the air increased by 3.5 ppm (parts per million) between 2023 and 2024 – the highest increase since modern measurements began in 1957. […]
September 25, 2025
According to a 2025 report from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research (PIK), ocean acidification has now exceeded a safe boundary for ecosystems. It is the first time it is placed in the ‘danger zone’. This also means that seven out of the nine ‘planetary boundaries’ have now been crossed. This concept of ‘planetary boundaries’ […]
September 23, 2025
The recent car-free Sunday, on September 21st, once again proved that air quality is improving and noise pollution is decreasing, especially along Brussels’ busiest roads. The sound pressure dropped by 99 percent compared to a regular Sunday. The measuring stations on the E40 in Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe and the E411 in Oudergem recorded sound pressure levels of 50 […]
September 22, 2025
If outgoing Brussels Minister of Mobility Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) has her way, the capital will become car-free not once but four times a year. Van den Brandt wants to discuss this with the mayors of the 19 municipalities. A poll also shows that most Brussels residents want several car-free days per year. In addition […]
September 17, 2025
According to a recent Swiss study published in early September in the scientific journal Nature, nearly one-quarter of heatwaves would have been ‘virtually impossible’ without global warming, and can be attributed to the emissions of individual energy producers. In other words, some recent heatwaves would never have occurred without the emissions of a few large […]
September 15, 2025
On September 21, Car-Free Sunday will be organized in various cities and municipalities in Belgium. To mark the occasion, NMBS/SNCB is offering a second-class return ticket for 8 euros. It is noteworthy that in Wallonia, only a few municipalities, such as Moranwelz, Le Bizet, and Ans, are participating in the initiative, while the entire Brussels-Capital […]
September 12, 2025
What was feared has come true: the Constitutional Court has suspended the ordinance postponing the tightening of the Brussels low-emission zone (LEZ). Among other things, the Court ruled that the ordinance could cause irreparable harm to one of the petitioners, a child with chronic asthma and allergies. The Court also referred to the ‘standstill’ principle […]
September 10, 2025
From January 1, there is a threat of stricter rules for low-emission zones (LEZ) in Antwerp and Ghent, even though the new coalition agreement stipulated that there would be no such tightening of the rules. Both the governing parties, N-VA and Vooruit, are urging Flemish Minister for the Environment Jo Brouns (CD&V) to provide clarity […]
September 03, 2025
Air quality in the Brussels-Capital Region has improved over the past ten years. According to the latest Annual Report on Air Quality from Brussels Environment, the low-emission zone, the accelerated transition from diesel to other engines, the modal shift, and technological developments explain this positive trend. However, not all mandatory standards are being met, and […]
August 27, 2025
On Tuesday, work began to install a shore power installation at the cruise terminal on the Swedish Quay in Zeebrugge (Belgium). In the near future, cruise ships will be able to switch off their polluting diesel generators and fully utilize shore power. Shore power is an environmentally friendly and quiet way for ships to moor. It allows […]
August 21, 2025
This year, 967,026 hectares of nature have already gone up in flames in the European Union – four times the average (244,011) since measurements began in 2006. Spain stands out with a staggering 4.4 times increase, or nearly 392,000 hectares of devastated land (and record fire emissions). Portugal is also severely affected (2.2 times its average), […]
August 19, 2025
The Brussels Ring Road is only 75 km long, but it can be seen as a symbol of Belgium’s communal complexity. The Works Association (De Werkvennootschap), an entity within the Flemish government established to tackle complex projects, has just reached an agreement with the environmental organization Dryade on the redevelopment of the Brussels Ring Road, […]
August 18, 2025
A recent UCLA study discovered that the air around EV fast chargers in use had twice the amount of harmful fine particles typically found in an urban environment. Plugging an EV into a DC fast charger kicks up fine particles that pollute the air. Electric vehicles may be completely tailpipe emissions-free, but they still pollute […]
August 13, 2025
Fatbikes may be very popular, especially among young people, but most cities are happy to see them gone. Some Dutch cities – Enschede, Hengelo, and Amsterdam, for instance – have even considered banning these cumbersome electric bikes, and now the Belgian town of Hasselt in Limburg is also considering a ban. But what exactly is […]
August 12, 2025
The United Kingdom is considering plans to introduce a mandatory eye test for older road users to reduce road deaths and injuries. According to news media BBC and Sky News, people over 70 may face a driving ban in the future if they fail a mandatory eye test. In 2024, 1,633 people were killed in traffic and […]
August 08, 2025
Anyone who thinks lithium is, first and foremost, the key component in an electric car’s battery, watch this. Scientists have discovered that a lithium supplement also appears to help combat memory loss, which offers new hope for Alzheimer’s patients. According to a recent publication by Nature, the world’s leading multidisciplinary science journal, low levels of […]
August 07, 2025
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, July 2025 was the third‑hottest July on record globally, trailing only behind July 2023 and July 2024. Regional anomalies included a record high of 50.5°C in Turkey, historic heatwaves in Sweden and Finland, and numerous wildfires across Southeast Europe. The average global surface air temperature for the month […]
August 04, 2025
Negotiations between 175 countries will begin tomorrow in Geneva, Switzerland, on an international and historic treaty aimed at drastically reducing plastic pollution. A legally binding treaty is expected to be ready within two weeks, marking a breakthrough comparable to the Paris Climate Agreement. Plastic pollution is a massive environmental problem. From plastic bags in the stomachs of sea […]
July 30, 2025
Eureka moment at MIVB/STIB: the Brussels public transport company has made a breakthrough in the issue of noise pollution caused by the wheels of the new M7 metro trains. The wheel manufacturer has developed new wheels that meet strict technical criteria. Production has already started, and delivery is scheduled for the last quarter of 2025, […]
July 24, 2025
An increasing number of people are experiencing motion sickness in electric cars, but why is this happening? Scientists are trying to find an acceptable explanation as to why people feel more motion sick riding in an EV than in a traditional petrol or diesel car. For your information, in 2024, 22% of new car sales […]
July 21, 2025
Mobility provider Bolt has published its latest Micromobility Incident Overview. The report reveals new data showing a significant drop in the number of incidents involving electric scooters in Belgium. According to the bulletin, the number of incidents in Belgium has decreased by 82% compared to the same period last year. This equates to just 0.13 incidents per […]
July 15, 2025
A new study carried out by DNV, on behalf of Transport &Environment, has shown that Europe’s ports are failing to tackle toxic air pollution. The study reveals that only 20% of the EU’s required electric shore power infrastructure has been installed in major ports, meaning most container ships, cruise ships, and ferries continue to run […]
July 04, 2025
Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB is to roll out an action plan to “improve the working environment of employees.” It is doing so following a welfare survey conducted early this year by IDEWE, an external service for prevention and protection at work. According to the unions, the survey’s results and conclusions, which measured, among other […]
June 26, 2025
The Berlin Constitutional Court has ruled that an initiative to make the city largely car-free is legal, paving the way for organizers to collect signatures for a referendum. The draft law is thus compatible with the Berlin Constitution, the Basic Law, and federal law. Now, the initiators can further pursue their legislative proposal for a […]
June 25, 2025
A new study commissioned by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) reveals that making particle filters mandatory in Europe’s dirtiest home heating method – wood burning – would deliver significant public health benefits at a fraction of household incomes. High fossil fuel prices have pushed many low-income and rural households back to wood as their primary […]
June 24, 2025
According to a new European Environmental Agency (EEA) report released on Tuesday, more than 20% of Europeans – more than one in five – are exposed to unhealthy levels of transport noise. When measured against stricter World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, this figure rises to over 30%, or nearly one in three citizens. “Extremely high […]
June 12, 2025
The World Health Organization (WHO) has established a new agency to make recommendations to the health sector in the European Region. The ‘Pan-European Committee on Climate and Health’ (PECCH), as the new organization is called, will offer pragmatic and cost-effective health sector solutions to address climate change. Former Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir will chair the PECCH. […]
June 11, 2025
Renault and Software République are unveiling ‘vision 4rescue’, a demo car featuring a high-tech ecosystem that enables the emergency services to work more efficiently in critical situations. Featuring nearly 20 interconnected solutions, the ecosystem was designed to standardize the different technologies used by the emergency services for a faster and better-coordinated response. Based on the […]
June 10, 2025
The Antwerp hospital umbrella ‘Hospitaal aan de Stroom’ (ZAS) receives an emergency patient every eight hours due to an accident involving an e-scooter. In half of the cases, this led to an inability to work. Emergency doctors as well as the clinic and the Flemish Foundation for Traffic Studies (VSV) are asking the government to […]
May 29, 2025
Almost five years after the introduction of the general 30 kph zone in the Brussels Capital Region, it is abundantly clear that the introduction of that plan was a good idea. According to Brussels Mobility, there are fewer serious accidents and fatalities, and the introduction of Zone 30 also does not lead to longer travel […]
May 26, 2025
Greenhouse gas emissions in Flanders have fallen to their lowest point this century. So reports Statistics Flanders, based on figures from the Flemish Environment Agency for 2023. Emissions, still accounting for 65,4 megatons (Mton) of greenhouse gas CO2 equivalents, were notably lower than in the COVID-19 year 2020. Decrease of 3,5 Mton CO2 In 2023, […]
May 22, 2025
Last year, 16,403 fines were issued in the Brussels region for motorists who entered the low-emission zone (LEZ) with an overly polluting car. That’s almost a halving from the record year of 2023, when 29,643 drivers were fined. Meanwhile, several citizens’ associations have started proceedings at the Constitutional Court to annul the two-year postponement of […]
May 16, 2025
Planet Earth is heading for more than 1.5 degrees of global warming. A disturbing new calculation shows that the rate of warming is now twice as fast as it was at the end of the 20th century. The climate goal the world set itself ten years ago in Paris was to limit global warming to […]
April 22, 2025
Brussels Airport will invest half a billion euros in infrastructure to accommodate the passenger growth expected in the coming years. The project involves the construction of a new intermodal hub, an expansion of the departure and arrival hall, a new hotel, a new drop-off zone, and a green boulevard with a park. The investment is […]
April 14, 2025
In a radiation protection study commissioned by the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV), all electric cars analyzed complied with the recommendations for protection against the health effects of magnetic fields. According to the researchers, people are not generally exposed to stronger magnetic fields in […]
April 07, 2025
This year, Limburg celebrates the 30th anniversary of the cycle route network—one of the province’s main attractions. Recent research by Visit Limburg confirms that cycling in Limburg is popular not only with the Limburgers themselves but also with cyclists from far beyond the provincial borders. Visit Limburg’s study shows that 90% of cyclists are delighted […]
April 04, 2025
Rehabilitation physicians at UZ Ghent want a bicycle helmet to become mandatory in Belgium. After all, less than a third of Belgians (29%) wear a bicycle helmet, but out of the nearly four in ten victims of injury accidents involving bicycles and speed pedelecs who ended up in a Belgian hospital in 2023 had a […]
March 31, 2025
A team of researchers with the Belgian professor Sebastiaan van de Velde as the lead author, reported that certain commercial activities damage the sea floors and disrupt the ocean’s natural carbon capture capacity. They also emphasized the need better to assess this “hidden emission” of greenhouse gases. The oceans play a crucial role in regulating […]
March 25, 2025
Paris residents voted in a referendum on Sunday to make hundreds of streets car-free. With this measure, the left-wing city council wants to reduce car use further, improve air quality, and increase the quality of life in the French capital. However, turnout was low: barely 4% of the 1.4 million residents bothered to vote. Two-thirds […]
March 25, 2025
On May 27th, Hasselt University will award an honorary doctorate to Hugo Bollen, the inventor of the walking and cycling node network. Hugo Bollen, a former engineer at the Kempen Coal Mines (Kempische Steenkoolmijnen), came up with the now widespread cycling and walking junction network years ago. The doctorate is a recognition of his essential […]
March 24, 2025
According to the Progress Report on the Programmatic Approach to Nitrogen, nitrogen oxide emissions in Flanders have fallen by 35 percent between 2015 and 2022, and ammonia emissions have fallen by 9 percent in those seven years. Environment Minister Jo Brouns presented the report on Friday, March 21st. Nitrogen oxides (80%) mainly come from the […]
March 24, 2025
The Brussels Parliament has approved the proposal for an ordinance clarifying specific provisions postponing the tightening of the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) until January 1, 2027. The vote was 67 to 14, with the Greens and DéFI voting against and Benjamin Dalle (CD&V) abstaining. Whether this definitively eliminates the problems remains to be seen. Touring, […]
March 17, 2025
A recent report indicates that London’s air quality has significantly improved since the introduction of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone, an area where polluting vehicles are banned or must pay a congestion charge to enter. Annual roadside NO2 concentrations across the capital have been nearly halved (49%) between 2016 and 2023, while preliminary figures indicate London […]
March 05, 2025
Flemish public transport company De Lijn paid more than 70,000 euros in fines last year for violations of low-emission zones (LEZ), a multiple of the 2,350 euros from 2023. A total of 384 fines were involved. Especially Antwerp and Ghent, together with Brussels, the only three active LEZ in Belgium, were mainly responsible. In Antwerp, […]
March 03, 2025
More than 500 doctors have called on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to uphold the planned 2035 phase-out of combustion engines, warning of serious health risks if the policy is weakened. The doctors criticized efforts to soften carbon dioxide (CO2) emission limits, arguing that delaying the transition would endanger public health. Road traffic […]
February 28, 2025
For years, the Brussels Capital Region has been demanding compliance with Brussels noise standards to limit noise pollution at Brussels Airport. The French-speaking court of first instance in Brussels has once again condemned the Belgian state for the excessive nuisance caused by night flights over the capital. At the same time, it increased the penalty […]
February 26, 2025
The European Commission proposes banning polluting and harmful heating systems, such as wood-burning stoves, by 2027. Still, the proposal is encountering resistance in countries like Germany and the Czech Republic. A draft law was due to be presented in Brussels on February 12th. The law would impose more stringent limits on harmful particulate emissions from […]
February 04, 2025
From March 3rd, a lane on the Paris ‘périphérique’ will be reserved for carpool cars, security services, and public transport. Only cars with at least two occupants, public transport vehicles (buses and taxis), emergency services, and persons with reduced mobility are allowed to drive in the left lane of the Paris Ring Road. The rule […]
January 17, 2025
The Brussels urban movement BRAL, together with other civil society organizations, points out a legal error in the ordinance on the postponement of the tightening of the Low-Emission Zone (LEZ) in the Brussels Capital Region. Due to a reference to the wrong article, many diesel and gasoline cars will be driving “illegally” in Brussels. According […]
January 06, 2025
In a groundbreaking yet polarizing move, New York City introduced a $9 congestion toll for vehicles entering southern Manhattan during peak hours last Sunday. It’s the first US city to implement such a policy, modeled after examples of cities worldwide. Having been postponed for half a year, the toll is sending ripples all over the […]
December 13, 2024
The closure of five Brussels car tunnels by 2030, including two on Avenue Louise and two on the central ring road, would save 100 million euros in the long run and have no major impact on mobility. This is according to a cost-benefit analysis of Brussels tunnels commissioned by Brussels Mobility and reported by the […]
December 11, 2024
Every year, around 239,000 deaths in the European Union can be attributed to exposure to fine particulate matter, a key air pollutant. Another 70,000 Europeans die from excessive ozone concentrations and 48,000 from nitrogen pollution. In Belgium alone, this concerns 4,100 deaths from particulate matter, 1,400 from ozone, and 1,200 from nitrogen. The figures come […]
December 09, 2024
In 2024, North and South America experienced intense wildfires, mainly affecting the Pantanal wetlands, the Amazon, Canada, and the western US. Eastern Eurasia, including within the Arctic Circle, also experienced above-average fire emissions. The regular monitoring of forest fires by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) in various regions around the world revealed this. Severe […]
December 09, 2024
The Brussels Parliament has adopted an ordinance proposal to postpone the taxi sector’s obligation to purchase zero-emission vehicles by two years until January 2027. Green parties denounced the fact that since June, there has been no majority in the Brussels Parliament except for specific files, such as for the two-year postponement of the tightening of […]
December 05, 2024
To reduce the number of drunk train passengers getting into accidents during the festive season, UK train operator Avanti West Coast will serve a new low-alcohol beer on trains running in the West Coast Mainline between London Euston and Scotland. According to the rail company, the ‘Safety Thirst Beer’, which contains 0.5% alcohol by volume […]
November 21, 2024
The Jan Yperman Hospital, located in a rather enclosed region in Ypres, West Flanders, Belgium, has deployed drones to transport blood samples automatically. The new drone system operates fully automatically and combines 5G technology with a high-tech drone cargo port (DCP)—a world first, it claims. Last week, the British NHS also deployed drones to quickly […]
November 20, 2024
The Brussels ombudsman office wants MIVB/STIB to curb noise pollution caused by defective wheels on M7 subway trains. The appeal comes after an investigation following a complaint from a resident of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert/Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe about noise pollution from the metro. According to Ombuds Brussels, the MIVB/STIB, the future Brussels government, and the public institution Brussels Environment must […]
November 04, 2024
Starting today, car traffic in the city center of Paris will be restricted even further with the introduction of a car-free zone, a so-called “zone à traffic limité” (ZTL). The measure is intended to reduce noise and harmful emissions, improve road safety, and create more space for cyclists and pedestrians. In addition, the new zone […]
November 01, 2024
A team of 122 researchers from United Nations agencies and academic institutions worldwide has published an article in The Lancet warning that climate-related health risks are worsening. More people face dangerous heat, food insecurity, and exposure to pathogens and other threats. The report was published on Wednesday in advance of the climate negotiations scheduled for […]
October 23, 2024
The Lower House in the Netherlands wants to postpone introducing emission-free zones for company cars and trucks until 2029. However, on January 1, 14 municipalities, including Amsterdam and Rotterdam, wanted to introduce these zones despite resistance from the political Hague and most business owners. Still, there is little chance that the introduction can be stopped. […]
