15.12.2022
The CNCD/11.11.11 reiterates its recommendation to the Belgian government to devote 0.7% of its Gross National Income to official development assistance.
The report opens with an analysis of the international context, with growing inequality, a food crisis, increased poverty, and over-indebtedness due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
It highlights the fact that international official development assistance (ODA) has not been up to the task: the record donations in 2021 are mainly donations of anti-Covid vaccines.
The amount of Belgian aid has increased in nominal terms (from EUR 2 033 million to EUR 2 186 million), mainly due to the increase in the cost of receiving asylum seekers in Belgium, but it has decreased in relative terms (from 0.47% to 0.46% of GNI) between 2020 and 2021. As these amounts are spent in Belgium and not in the South, they should not be counted as development aid.
Belgian development aid has decreased, largely because of the return to rising GNI. Belgium is therefore moving away from its international target of 0.7% and is among the poor performers in Europe.
It is therefore important for Belgium to increase its official development assistance (ODA) from 2023 onwards in order to reach an increasing trajectory by 2030.
A reflection on the quality of Belgian cooperation was also made on the basis of a study on the Belgian investment company BIO, an evaluation of the federal government's climate financing and an evaluation of the country strategies of bilateral cooperation.
This reflection showed that in order to strengthen the alignment of Belgian cooperation with the needs of its partners, the dialogue with a given partner country should be formalized.
As for the inter-ministerial conference and the PCD action plan, they are still pending despite the commitments made in the government agreement.
The report also notes policy inconsistencies in contradiction with the sustainable development objectives, such as the four Belgian, European and international initiatives:
1. The proposal for a European directive on due diligence
2. The agreement of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on the taxation of multinationals.
3. The proposed carbon adjustment mechanism at the EU's borders
4. Belgium's ambivalent position in the framework of COP26.
PCD will only become a reality if the government considers it a priority.
Finally, to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, the CNCD recommends an international and equitable strategy for ecological transition.
The richest countries and the largest emitters of greenhouse gases must respect their international climate commitments to achieve climate neutrality with clear and budgeted measures.