Heatwaves, wildfires, drought, austerity – Rally on Sunday 6 September from 14.00 to 17.30 on Place de l’Albertine – Albertinaplein in Brussels
Following the government’s disastrous handling of this summer’s heatwaves amidst widespread budget cuts, we call upon all affected sectors of society to join us on 6 September to demand that Belgian and European authorities take all necessary measures to limit the impact of climate change on our lives.
At least 2,000 deaths have been attributed to the heatwaves in Belgium, and 35,000 across Europe. The WHO estimates that a large proportion of these deaths could have been avoided through measures focused on prevention, preparedness and adaptation.
Droughts are threatening our water and food supplies. Wildfires are suffocating us and destroying our homes and the forests that are the lungs of the planet. These are the signs of ecocide occurring on a European scale, but which is impacting the most vulnerable populations globally, and much earlier than climate scientists had forecasted.
Climate inaction has not only a tragic human cost, but also an colossal economic cost (180 billion EUR in 2026 alone, see https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/08/12/europes-scorching-summer-could-cost-eu-economies-180-billion.
We are the last generation capable of slowing and finally halting the continuous rise in global warming to prevent the Earth from becoming uninhabitable, causing millions or even billions of deaths.
What are the Belgian government and the European Union doing? The European Green Deal, secured in 2019 through the mass mobilization of citizens and youth, is being dismantled piece by piece. Denial, inaction and calls for a ‘climate pause’ in environmental regulation are a scandal.
Instead we call upon the EU to launch an emergency plan to speed up the implementation of the European Green Deal, as its objective of achieving carbon neutrality is becoming out of reach.
Furthermore, essential social programs in healthcare and education are being slashed in the name of austerity (see https://marsattacks.be/#denonciations), while 800 billion EUR will be invested in a vast military buildup by 2030.
Despite the rise in wildfires, EU countries have cut 18,000 firefighter posts in 2025, see https://www.epsu.org/article/reckless-18000-reduction-firefighters-during-worst-year-wildfires
Organized by Rise for Climate Belgium, Agora of the inhabitants of the Earth , singer-songwriter Getch, and the education collective Mars Attacks,
with the support of la Santé en Lutte, Groupe 31 mars, EU NGO Fern , Parents Attacks, Aqua, Via Campesina Europe, Collectif 8 mars, Climate Express, Collectif Maintenant, Espirito Mundo, Youth For Climate, and Stop Militarisation, Nature et Progrès, Canopea, Raging for Climate, Forum des jeunes, Youca, Globelink, CGSP Public Services Union…
Rise For Climate press contacts:
riseforclimatebelgium@gmail.com
www.riseforclimatebelgium.eu Instagram: rise_for_climate
Facebook event https://www.facebook.com/share/19bV4GjfsU/?mibextid=wwXIfr
https://www.instagram.com/rise_for_climate?igsi=bDhnYzhnaTBuMTAz&utm_source=qr
Larry Moffett : 0495 534 340 EN FR
Kim Le Quang: 0499 439 350 FR EN
Singer Getch: 0478 656 589 FR EN
Program
Provisional programme for 6 September
2.00 pm Introduction by Alec and Rise For Climate in coorganisation with Agora Inhabitants of the Earth and Mars Attacks
Jean-Pascal van Ypersele former vice président of IPCC
2.05 pm Getch, Jonas and the participatory choir ‘Combien de Temps encore?’ 5 minshttps://youtu.be/xnvLIY9umg4?is=PQA5lhq2XBUEi8uNs
2.15 pm Mars Attacks and Parents Attacks
The impact of austerity and heatwaves on the world of education (5 mins)
Getch, Cédric Gervy and the choir: Mars Attack anthemhttps://youtube.com/shorts/KbevZ7cWMn8?is=GDSFhSgsRUdC-V4t
2.25 pm Benoît Bailleul, Nature and Forestry Officer for the Belgian Ardennes
2.30 pm Roxane Lefebvre, poet and activist for the Living: ‘The Fire’ (3 mins)
2.35 NGO Fern about EU politics for Forests
2.40 Martine Capron Dance of the Earth Nessi Gomes Pacha Mama
2.50 pm Emmanuel Petrella, Will the rivers, the arteries of the earth, run dry?Earth Citizens’ Agora (AHT), (3 mins)
Maria Palatine, Bernard Tirtiaux and the AHT artists’ collective “Share” on sharing water as a common good (5 mins)
https://youtu.be/23tkNKfguK4?is=LYSVqfD9qU5Z0-Go
3 pm Émilienne Tempels on the situation facing artists and pensions (5 mins)
3.05 pm Lola d’Estienne, a Belgian activist comedian who uses the absurd to laugh at things that aren’t always funny (10 mins)
3.10 pm Via Campesina Europe: the droughts that are destroying farmers’ crops and threatening our food supply.
3.15 pm The healthcare struggle and the Federation of Medical Centres: the situation in hospitals during heatwaves
3.20 pm Fatima Zibouh: in the face of climate change, uniting our struggles (3 mins)
3.25 We Are Nature and La Minute Sauvage (5 mins)
3.30 Emmanuel Allard Vital asbl MAP, Via Campesina
3.35 Extinction Rebellion
3.40 : Amaury Laridon Climat et militarisation
3.45 pm A speaker from the Protect de Rules network against European social and environmental deregulation and militarisation (to be confirmed)
3.50 pm Getch, Jonas and the participatory choir Fuel Sentimental
calling for a convergence of struggles: “We are one”
4 pm to 5.30 pm Citizens’ assembly on the convergence of struggles