New climate goals relaxed, but… Hennig-Kloska: Poland will vote against

Poland will vote against the new climate target for 2040, announced the Minister of Climate and Environment, Paulina Hennig-Kloska, on Tuesday. At the same time, she admitted that the text of the EU target included many “very good” amendments for Poland.

The head of the Ministry of Environmental Protection was asked on RMF FM about the meeting of climate ministers, which will take place on Tuesday in Brussels. During it, there will be a vote on setting a new climate target for the EU for 2040. – Poland will vote against – declared Hennig-Kloska.

As part of the new goal, the European Union is to commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 90%. compared to 1990. This will complement the climate law currently in force in the EU, according to which in 2030 the community will reduce emissions by 55% and in 2050 it will become climate neutral (all emissions are to be balanced by absorption).

The Minister of Climate noted that such goals are “too ambitious” for countries such as Poland and that “they do not result from EU averages.”

– If this law is adopted today, many amendments will be introduced, which will be very good for Poland – said the head of the Ministry of Climate. Among them, she mentioned not extending EU climate policy to the defense industry and introducing a revision of this policy in 2030 and 2035 if it turns out to be too burdensome for the economy.

Hennig-Kloska assessed that the new climate target was “quite watered down”. She also emphasized that the introduced amendments are intended to seek further votes of support. – We know well what amendments, together with Poland, were sought by countries such as France and Italy, and these are the amendments aimed at ensuring that Denmark (holding the presidency – PAP) can build this majority – she said.

The head of the Ministry of Climate announced that Poland will demand further revisions of the EU target. She added that as the Minister of Climate, she is in constant contact with her counterparts from France and Italy. – We are constantly working together to introduce these corrections so that (…) this goal at the end of the day is not a hard goal in itself, but a recommendation that should be reached, with measures along the way, there will be substitute actions, which will definitely be easier to adopt for countries such as France and Italy, said Hennig-Kloska.

The vote of the environment ministers on the new target was initially scheduled to take place in September, but it was postponed due to the doubts of most capitals. The issue first had to be brought to the highest political level – the EU summit held in Brussels on October 23. Then the heads of state and government called for the new target to be enclosed in several fuses.

Since the end of the summit in Brussels, work has been ongoing to adapt the draft amendment to the climate law to the leaders' demands. On Sunday, Denmark, which holds the presidency, submitted another compromise text to the member states.

At Tuesday's meeting of climate ministers, Poland will be represented by Deputy Minister Krzysztof Bolesta.

The result of the vote is not certain. As an EU diplomat told PAP, on Friday it looked like there was no qualified majority among the member states required to adopt the new target (at least 15 countries constituting 65% of the EU population). However, the EU source noted that before the vote takes place on Tuesday, there will probably be further “dilution” of the EU target, which may change the balance of power in favor of its adoption. Moreover, the amendments that appeared over the weekend met the expectations of Italy and France, especially when it comes to carbon dioxide absorption and the possibility of using the so-called carbon credits. (PAP)

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