You are here
Home > Economics > Poland will protect its coal industry

Poland will protect its coal industry

Poland has demanded the EU protect its plans to build new coal-fired power plants if it wants fast-track its ratification of the Paris climate agreement, ClimatChange reports.

In a letter to the environment ministers of other member states sent on Monday, Poland’s Jan Szyszko said the country expected the EU to recognise its special economic need to build new coal plants and carry credits from the Kyoto Protocol in order to meet emissions reduction targets.

The Polish environment minister struck at a moment when the EU has placed its credibility on the line over the Paris Agreement. Miguel Arias Cañete, the European Commission’s (EC) top climate official said last week that the bloc would follow other major emitters and ratify the climate treaty in early October.

It is a game of chicken, with a symbolic deadline of October 7 fast approaching for the EU to have ratified the treaty before the start of the next major climate talks in November. EU environment ministers will meet in an extraordinary session in Brussels on September 30 to make a decision on ratification.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Top