Belgium entrusts the OECD with the study of the unequal cost of climate change

King Philippe signed, on September 23, 2026, a royal decree granting an optional subsidy of 80,000 euros to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The text, published in the Belgian Official Gazette on October 12, 2026, under reference C − 2026/007367, is countersigned by the Minister for Climate and Environmental Transition, J.-L. Crucke.

The decree is based on the law of March 23, 2026, containing the general expenditure budget for the 2026 budget year and on the law of May 22, 2003, regarding the organization of the budget and accounting of the Federal State. The Finance Inspector issued their opinion on August 28, 2026. The subsidy is charged to basic allocation 25.55.62.1211.01 of the budget of the FPS Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment.

A project on the unequal cost of extreme events

The subsidy finances the implementation, by the OECD, of the project “The unequal cost of extreme weather events in Belgium”. The research work will focus on:

• the economic and social consequences of extreme weather events in Belgium;
• their effects on income, employment, economic trajectories, and household living conditions;
• the role of the Belgian taxation and social protection system in mitigating the resulting income losses.

This work is intended to result in a research paper presenting the results of the analysis and their implications for public policies in Belgium.

A sixteen-month period and a single payment

The period covered by the subsidy begins on September 1, 2026, and ends on December 31, 2027. The amount is liquidated in a single installment to the OECD, whose headquarters are located at 2, rue André-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France, upon presentation of the corresponding invoice.

Justification of expenses and restitution of the balance

The use of the subsidy is justified a posteriori by the transmission, within ninety days following the closure of the project, of a statement of expenses established according to the OECD standard financial reporting format. The organization also transmits the research paper referred to in Article 3. In accordance with Article 123 of the law of May 22, 2003, any part of the subsidy not used for the intended purposes is reimbursed to the financial service of the FPS Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment, according to the procedures communicated by that service.

An anchoring at the Climate Change Risk Analysis Centre

The decree justifies the expenditure by recalling that the Climate Change Risk Analysis Centre was established within the FPS Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment by the royal decree of January 16, 2025, in order to improve knowledge of climate and environmental risks and to support the development of public policies in this area. The project falls directly within the missions of this centre and is of public interest to the Belgian authorities.

The minister responsible for Climate and Environmental Transition is charged with the execution of the decree, issued in Brussels on September 23, 2026. For readers, the challenge is to have a quantified measure of how extreme climate events disproportionately affect Belgian households, and to know whether taxation and social protection actually cushion these income shocks.

Source: Belgian Official Gazette of October 12, 2026, No. 230, p. 54433-54434, reference C − 2026/007367.