Breakdown of the Average Belgian Carbon Footprint by Consumption Category in 2019

Details

Supervisors

Marichal, Xavier

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] : ingénieur de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

In recent years, climate change has gained significant attention, with new protocols such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement being implemented to limit global warming to a rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius. In response to this objective, many countries are innovating and finding ways to incorporate sustainable development into their policies. For instance, France conducts an annual study to comprehensively calculate the carbon footprint per capita of French citizens, providing insight into their consumption and impact. However, Belgium has been considered a country not committed enough to environmental protection and sustainability. Moreover, there is a lack of recent studies about Belgium’s carbon footprint. Therefore, building on the French methodology, this thesis aimed to calculate the carbon footprint of the average Belgian citizen for the year 2019, breaking it down into several categories as developed by France: Transport, Housing, Equipment, Public services and Commercial services. The average carbon footprint found for 2019 is 15.69 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, with Housing having the highest impact at 4.93 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per person. The other contributors to the average carbon footprint are Equipment (3.66 tCO2 eq per capita), Transport (3.12 tCO2 eq per capita), Food (2.35 tCO2 eq per capita), and finally, Administration, education and health, and other services (1.14 tCO2 eq per capita). This particular footprint fails to meet the environmental objectives and is significantly higher than the global average, highlighting the need for the country to adopt more sustainable practices in the sectors with the greatest environmental impact.