Polish Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Climate, Adam Guibourgé-Czetwertyński, said his country was fully committed to joining forces with other member states to achieve a climate-neutral Union by 2050 on Wednesday 9 September at an event organised by Euractiv.
Responding to a question from the moderator as to whether this was an official commitment by Poland to the goal of climate neutrality, the Undersecretary of State went on to state that Warsaw is firmly committed to making the transformation of its energy system possible and “to make that transformation contribute to the EU goal of becoming climate neutral as a whole by 2050”.
He also said that the country’s new energy policy, presented by his ministry this week, has yet to be approved by the government.
This strategy provides for the development of nuclear power and renewable energies with the aim of having, by 2040, a capacity of 6 to 9 GW for nuclear power, 8 to 11 GW for offshore wind power and 10 to 16 GW for photovoltaic power.
Finally, Mr Guibourgé-Czetwertyński stressed the need for a just transition. In this regard, he mentioned in particular the possibility of improving the functioning of the EU ETS to ensure that it allows investments to be made where they can have the greatest impact in reducing emissions and where they are most needed to cover the cost of transition.
Following the European Summit on 12 December 2019, Poland was the only Member State that was not able to formally commit to the implementation of the European Union’s climate neutrality target by 2050 (see EUROPE 12389/1). (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)