2020-01-22 15:44 update: 2020-01-24, 12:50
Andrzej Duda in Davos. Photo/PAP/Radek Pietruszka
Polish President Andrzej Duda revealed on Wednesday the topics discussed at his meeting with Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland's Davos.
"We discussed changes in Poland's energy policy, of course we discussed climate protection, but I was particularly pleased with the fact that the executive director underlined that in such countries as Poland the changes in how the energy sector operates should be in line with the Just Transition idea that we put forward more than a year ago," the Polish president told reporters.
Duda said Poland wanted to protect the climate but was also trying not to "harm employees, harm families, harm entrepreneurs."
He called for a peaceful and balanced transformation so as to avoid "violent shocks, sudden energy price hikes and all the other things that are bad for economic growth."
Poland is the only EU member state that has avoided a straightforward commitment to the bloc's climate neutrality goal, which the EU plans to reach in 2050. Poland argues that its energy , which relies on fossil fuels, had been built for decades in line with communist standards and therefore more time and funds are needed to adjust it to Europe's latest climate goals. (PAP)
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