Poland plans to set end date for coal power

Poland plans to set an end date for coal-fuelled power, the country’s Secretary of State for Climate Urszula Zielinska said on Monday, marking a shift from the previous government’s stance on climate change.
Poland’s October 2023 election ended eight years of Law and Justice (PiS) party rule, and led to a new government that Zielinska said was increasing environmental efforts – including a phase-out date for coal power.
“Only with an end date we can plan and only with an end date industry can plan, people can plan. So yes, absolutely, we will be looking to set an end date,” she told reporters in Brussels.
Poland gets around 70% of its power from coal, the most CO2-emitting fossil fuel, although it has increased wind and solar generation in recent years.
The previous government agreed a pact with trade unions to keep mining coal until 2049. But scientists say deep cuts to emissions from burning coal are needed this decade to avoid severe climate change. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has urged all countries within the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) to phase out coal by 2030.