Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for measure BE-2022-1/2755 – measures in Belgium
Country |
Belgium
, applies regionally
|
Time period | Open ended, started on 01 January 2022 |
Context | Green Transition |
Type | Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Category |
Reorientation of business activities
– Change of production/Innovation |
Author | Dries Van Herreweghe (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) and Eurofound |
Measure added | 16 August 2022 (updated 26 April 2024) |
The Walloon Government, in response to the increasing costs of energy and CO2 emissions, is launching the WalEnergie scheme. This initiative, proposed by the Minister for the Economy, Willy Borsus, and the Minister for Energy, Philippe Henry, aims to assist companies in transitioning to a low-carbon economy.
As the future viability of businesses hinges on improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon footprints, many lack the expertise and financing required for such investments. Deploying innovative energy and climate technologies demands substantial resources, posing both technical and financial risks, often with long-term returns.
To address these challenges, the Government is entrusting SRIW and SOWALFIN with the task of establishing the WalEnergie scheme. This program offers support and financing for low-carbon transition projects in Wallonia. It seeks to create a comprehensive support and financing platform for businesses of all sizes, complementing existing initiatives such as Novalia's EasyGreen scheme, which targets VSEs/SMEs. This move aligns with the broader goal of fostering a sustainable and environmentally responsible business landscape.
WalEnergie will structure its support for industries around the financing of five strategic areas:
Initially, WalEnergie will work with "pilot" industrial companies that are part of the Branch Agreements from several sectors, such as chemicals or IT.
For these companies, WalEnergie will use audits, CO2 mapping and the companies' current action plans as a basis for making concrete investment proposals with appropriate financing solutions.
WalEnergie will also offer support in implementing action plans with long payback periods (more than 5 years), through additional studies and assistance in identifying investment subsidies that could be activated in order to carry out a robust economic and financial analysis.
Financing will be provided in the form of loans, guarantees and, to a lesser extent, equity investments.
No data.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Does not apply to workers | Applies to all businesses | Does not apply to citizens |
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
Local / regional government
|
Regional funds
|
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | Unknown | Unknown |
Form | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
No information available
No information available
Citation
Eurofound (2022), WalEnergie, measure BE-2022-1/2755 (measures in Belgium), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/BE-2022-1_2755.html
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