Environmental-Social Interface

Innovative pricing and financing instruments now help ensure access for all to essential environmental services such as water services. Water pricing differentiates between (low-priced) essential uses and (high-priced) luxury uses. Belgium can be considered to be fully implementing the right to water in its internal legislation. People in need will not be disconnected and the price of water will be affordable to poor households. Wallonia will introduce a tax on billed public water supply to finance development assistance in the water sector. Concerning environmental information, environmental data collection and publication improved substantially at regional and federal levels, leading to high quality environmental reporting, to more evidence-based and outcome-oriented environmental governance, and to performance-oriented planning.