Memorial to be built at Maelbeek for victims of climate-related disasters

Construction work has begun on a monument to climate victims in Belgium, with various climate organisations and politicians marking the start of the project on Thursday in a special ceremony.

The monument is an initiative of the Climate Justice for Rosa initiative. Founder Benjamin Van Bunderen-Robberechts lost his girlfriend Rosa five years ago in the floods in the Vesdre Valley in Wallonia.

The floods claimed the lives of at least 243 people in Western Europe, including 41 Belgians.

Following the official recognition of 15 July as the Belgian and European Day for the Victims of the Global Climate Crisis, the monument is meant to be a permanent physical memorial for the millions of victims of the climate crisis worldwide, including those who died as a result of the recent heatwave.

“Record-breaking heatwaves and wildfires demonstrate once again that the climate crisis is claiming lives across the entire continent,” said Van Bunderen-Robberechts.

“In Belgium alone, the recent heatwave led to more than 1,700 deaths.”

Through testimonies from flood survivors and the future memorial, organisers hope to raise awareness and demand immediate political action to prevent further casualties.

The future monument could, for example, incorporate climate data such as rising temperatures, depicted through layers of stone that are intended to accumulate over time.

“That’s the challenge: imagining a monument that grows,” said the monument’s designer Bas Smets, adding that creating an unfinished work serves as a call to the collective conscience.

“Those who are victims today will also be victims in the future,” Smets added.

Smets also designed the memorial to the victims of Covid-19 and that for the victims of the attacks of 22 March 2016.

Patrick Dezille, whose house in Rendeux was affected by the fatal floods, described the inescapable force of the waters: “For 40 hours, we watched the water rise, rise, rise.”

Faced with the force of the current, Dezille only narrowly escaped disaster, nearly falling into a manhole whose cover had been dislodged by the pressure. The anxiety caused by the unpredictability remains ever-present for those affected.

“It’s very difficult to cope with because we don’t know when it’s going to stop,” Dezille said.

The monument’s construction should be finished within the year. Located in the Maelbeek valley garden near the European Commission, the monument’s positioning is highly symbolic. The aim is to physically anchor the climate emergency right where decisions are made.

Alongside a representative from the United Nations and a representative from the European Commission, Belgium’s federal climate minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés) and the Brussels secretary of state for climate, Ans Persoons (Vooruit. brussels), were present at the ceremony for the launch of the monument's construction.