Poland will close all its coal-fired power plants by 2049, as set out in an agreement between the Polish government and the country’s mining unions (see EUROPE 12568/24), the Polish Climate and Environment Minister, Anna Moskwa, said on Twitter on Thursday 4 November.
“The transition in the coming years must, above all, be planned and fair. The social agreement adopted by the Polish government provides for the abandonment of coal by 2049. Energy security, together with the preservation of jobs, is our priority”, said the minister.
This comes after Poland signed a ‘Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement’ bringing together more than 190 actors (States, financial institutions, organisations...) in the framework of the 26th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) currently taking place in Glasgow (see EUROPE 12826/2).
Among other things, the declaration commits signatories to “rapidly scale up technologies and policies in this decade to achieve a transition away from unabated coal power generation in the 2030s (or as soon as possible thereafter) for major economies and in the 2040s (or as soon as possible thereafter) globally”, which has caused confusion about Polish intentions.
The signatories also commit to cease issuing permits for new unabated coal-fired power generation projects that are not coupled with technologies that reduce carbon dioxide emissions, as well as to halt any new direct government support for such projects.
While both South Korea and Germany (two major coal consumers) signed the declaration, Indonesia signed on to the text with the exception of the clause on ending the issuance of permits.
See the statement: https://bit.ly/3mNXEpK (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)