Dozens of environmental organizations and groups of businessmen as well as local government officials made an appeal to the Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz to support the new EU climate and the energy policy. Their standpoint was presented in an open letter published on Thursday.
Active and reasonably conducted energy and climate policy can reduce dependence of Poland on import of energy resources, will improve the standard of living of citizens and will contribute to the development of small and medium-sized businesses, operating in the modern industry of green technology – stated in the list its signatories.
According to them, the climate policy can be an engine of prosperity, will influence positively the environment and the health of the inhabitants of the country. In their view by the year 2030, 100 thousand of workplaces may be created only due to the development of the renewable energy sector.
The authors of the appeal also drew attention to the threatens connected with climate changes: We can no longer ignore the fact that the development based on fossil fuels consumption entails enormous costs and, more importantly, also human tragedies – they wrote.
The open letter was signed by i.a. non- governmental organizations belonging to the Climate Coalition, among them Greenpeace Poland, WWF Poland, Institute for Eco-Development, Gaja Club and League for Nature Preservation, as well as companies, local governments and associations of entrepreneurs, including the National Chamber of Commerce for Electronics and Telecommunications, Saint Gobain Poland, Polish Organization for Development of Heat Pump Technology and Association of Employers of Renewable Energy Forum.
The Climate Coalition spokeswoman Urszula Stefanowicz told PAP that the announced open letter is intended to show the Prime Minister and the society voices of branches, local governments, organizations and institutions, which in the new EU climate policy recognize an opportunity, not only a threat. They expect – she stressed – that the head of the government, who is going to the summit in Brussels, will be more open to compromise solutions.
Next week in Brussels the climate summit will take place at which EU leaders are to agree on a new goal of reducing greenhouse gases emission after the year 2020.
Earlier this year the European Commission proposed a 40 percent reduction of greenhouse gases emission (calculated per ton of CO2) by the year 2030, a 30 percent increase in energy efficiency and increasing the share of renewable energy sources to the level of 27 percent. Recently, it has been considered to include in the proposal a solidarity mechanism, compensating expenditure on modernization of the power sector in the less prosperous countries of the Community.
The Prime Minister Kopacz stated in the exposé that the Polish government would not agree to provisions which would result in higher costs to the economy and higher energy prices in Poland. She does not exclude a veto at the EU summit.
On Wednesday, the Minister of European Affairs Rafał Trzaskowski said that there is still no compromise that Poland would be willing to accept: If there is no outline of the agreement, it will mean that we will probably decide with other partners to not discuss this (climate package) on EU summit and focus on issues related to recovery from the crisis – he added.
