New study: Radical changes in agriculture required if Belgium wants to become CO2 neutral by 2050

https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2026/09/18/co2-neutraal-belgie-vito-fod-volksgezondheid/

I tagged it with ‘news’ even though this is actually not news at all.

It is interesting in itself that the actual report (summary https://klimaat.be/doc/natural-carbon-sinks-policy-paper-nl.pdf full report https://sytra.be/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/lulucf-2025.pdf) is a very complete summary of everything related to climate in Belgium.

It is also not news that despite the fact that this study was ordered by the government itself, some competent subjects are already backing down. Farmers’ Union poster boy Brouns, who said he was going to pursue a policy based on science at the beginning of the government period, is already complaining about cost price and support and ‘what about the Chinese?’ (https://vilt.be/nl/nieuws/studie-ziet-klimaatneutraliteit-enkel-haalbaar-na-drastische-landbouwtransformatie). He’s probably already forgotten last summer. It is interesting that he is actually also talking about food security, but he no longer uses the word itself. Maybe he also watched Lubach’s wonderful Deep Dive Thursday (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PttkL2GuLQQ) that nicely summarizes what it really is like?