On behalf of the German-speaking community of Belgium, the Wuppertal Institute has created an energy guideline that focuses on the following aspects:

• an energy - and CO2 balance,
• a potential analysis of CO2 reduction as well as
• a possible mission and vision statement, and
• financing proposals

The energy guideline shows a feasible way for the region to make the start into a sustainable energy future until the year 2025.  The energy guideline includes over 40 measures, which indicate the individual steps of implementation that are required by the stakeholders and persons in charge in order to achieve a restructuring of energy supplies as well as a modification of mobility, both in terms of climate and resource protection.
For this the following five fields of action are taken into account:

• organisational and structural measures,
• motivation and advice,
• production of electricity and heat,
• financing and funding, as well as
• traffic.

Within the framework of an energy- and carbon footprint analysis, the Wuppertal Institute first estimated the present situation in the German speaking community. Already, 37% of the community's energy is being provided from renewable energies and from combined heat and power plants with low specific CO2 emissions. With an annual total energy consumption of 2,243 gigawatt hours, CO2 emissions in 2010 amount to a total of 608.200 tonnes, which is equivalent to approximately 8 tonnes CO2 emissions per capita. Thus, the emission level of the German speaking community today is already approximately 24% lower than the Belgian average.

The realisation of the addition as suggested by the Wuppertal Institute and the BET in their Climate++ scenario would measure up to a total of 45% of the electricity requirement of the German speaking community in Belgium in 2012 that originates in renewable energies or cogeneration. That means a reduction of emissions by 23% compared to 2010. Especially public buildings have been the focus of research on saving potentials. Results show that more than half of the current consumption in the heat sector can be saved. For the power sector, the saving potential is up to almost 70%. All in all, the study shows that the goal of a "balanced energy-self-sufficiency" cannot be reached without immense efforts. The experts come to the conclusion that it is unlikely to be achieved by 2025. Yet the effort to achieve it five or ten years later is still worthwhile.