Brussels Region promises permanent monument for climate victims
Brussels Secretary of State Ans Persoons, responsible for Climate and Urban Renewal, promised this afternoon that a permanent monument will be built near the European Quarter to commemorate the victims of the climate crisis worldwide. She made the promise during a ceremony on 15 July, declared European Remembrance Day for all victims of the global climate crisis. A coalition of civil society organizations and climate movements organized a commemoration for the victims, as the “water bomb” floods mark their sad fifth anniversary. In 2021, at least 243 people died in various floods across Europe, including at least 41 Belgians around Verviers and Pepinster.
Relatives and survivors of recent Belgian climate disasters testified about the lasting impact of the 2021 floods on their daily lives. Landscape architect Bas Smets, who reached out on his own initiative to support the climate action, presented a prototype of what will later become the permanent monument. Activists closed the ceremony with a symbolic installation of sandbags and life vests, with a banner reading “Words don’t stop floods.” With this, they called on the politicians present to take stronger action and adopt more structural measures to prevent future climate disasters, while honoring the victims.
The banner and sandbags had already traveled from a ceremony held last Friday, also in collaboration with the Réseau Wallon de lutte contre la Pauvreté, the Walloon anti-poverty network. Together with residents of the affected areas in Verviers and Pepinster, they have long been calling for stronger prevention and adaptation measures against this climate crisis.
Christine Mahy, general secretary of the Walloon anti-poverty network, testified: “Was the Covid crisis necessary, were the floods necessary, is the heatwave now necessary for us to realize that the climate crisis and its consequences are social crises? Anyone who is weakened today by poor housing conditions, limited education, or lack of work faces a much greater risk tomorrow of dying from a heatwave or flood. If we continue taking measures that put people under pressure and lawfully exclude them, we make them vulnerable to the climate crisis; we turn them into potential victims, who will either die or whose lives will become unlivable.”
Crisis after crisis proves it again: this is not a coincidence, but a lack of effective policy beleid
The ceremony took place in the Maalbeek Valley Garden, close to the European Commission and the offices of the European Council, as Europe experiences a second heatwave in a row. The first heatwave broke unprecedented heat records and already caused excess mortality of 1,747 in Belgium, as part of an estimated total excess mortality of at least 14,000, making it one of the deadliest climate disasters ever on the European continent. Christine Mahy, secretary-general of the Walloon anti-poverty network, had already criticized the lack of structural political measures to protect vulnerable population groups from heatwaves, now that this one proved, in terms of numbers, even deadlier than the start of the Covid-19 crisis roughly six years ago.
Landscape architect Bas Smets said:
“Most monuments are only erected once a particular event has already ended or become history, but this monument draws attention to a tragedy that is still happening and developing to this day. We wanted to translate the abstract figures from the graphs on global climate disasters and their victims into something physical and tangible. With this artwork, which consists of recovered geological layers built with respect for their surroundings, we are creating a place to remember and to come together for the victims of climate disasters, yesterday, today and tomorrow. This is not a static monument. The artwork evolves like a living archive: it grows by a layer for every year that no action is taken and the climate crisis as we know it today continues. The monument was designed as a safe place in the heart of the city for remembrance, reflection and encounter.”
Benjamin Van Bunderen Robberechts, founder of ‘Climate Justice for Rosa’, says:
“”Five years ago, as a fourteen-year-old, my life changed forever: the water caught us by surprise and took Rosa’s young life. I later learned that several scientists had warned us of exactly this kind of scenario more than forty years earlier, while those in power deliberately did nothing with that crucial information. Today, as climate disasters around the world only keep increasing in frequency and intensity, we no longer have any excuses. With this monument, we force those in power, politicians and policymakers to face reality: while we make sure the victims are never forgotten, we remind our leaders of their ultimate responsibility: to protect their citizens.
No Words but Deeds
A monument for remembrance, reflection and connection is needed. But it is not a structural plan.
In the affected areas along the Vesdre Valley, reconstruction is only progressing step by step. Five years after the disaster, there is still no political plan.
That plan must not be limited to recovery. It must guarantee that this does not happen again. And it must ensure that those who have lost everything are not left alone in their rebuilding.
We thank federal Minister for Climate Jean-Luc Crucke for his presence, as well as Secretary of State Ans Persoons and Veronika Hunt Safrankova, Brussels representative of the UN Environment Programme. We thank them for their words on stage yesterday. At the same time, we as civil society remain committed to a plan with concrete actions against climate change, which today is claiming more and more human lives all over the world.
From now on, we expect deeds. An ambitious plan that prevents future disasters and leaves no one behind.
The victims of the climate crisis deserve more than a tribute. They deserve a plan.
The ceremony was an initiative of Climate Justice for Rosa, supported by Oxfam Belgium, the Climate Coalition, Réseau Wallon de Lutte contre la Pauvreté, Amnesty International and Greenpeace. Since 2023, 15 July has been recognized as EU Remembrance Day for the Victims of the Global Climate Crisis, a date deliberately chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the 2021 European floods.
Spokespersons
Benjamin Van Bunderen Robberechts, organizer, Climate Justice for Rosa: ora@pyvzngrwhfgvprsbeebfn.bet
Nadia Cornejo, vice-chair, Climate Coalition (FR) — apbearwb@terracrnpr.bet
Kiki Berkers, political spokesperson, Climate Coalition (NL) — Xvxv.Orexref@11.or
