Commissioner for Climate and Energy Package wanted immediately
dodano: 2009-11-19
Climate Coalition demands an immediate appointment of a governmental commissioner for achieving goals of the Climate and Energy Package. The commissioner would coordinate activities of the ministries responsible for elements of the Package and provide entrepreneurs with detailed information on its potential impact on economy. It will result in its effective implementation and making use of chances to increase economic innovativeness that it brings along.
Adopting the Climate and Energy Package by the EU in December last year is followed by necessity of launching numerous preparing and then implementing actions that would contribute to significant decrease of greenhouse gases emission, increase of energy efficiency and fast development of renewable energy sources. They will have a significant impact on situation in almost all sectors of economy. First year of preparations to implementation of the Package proves that Poland has not worked out coherent vision and strategy that would allow to implement it effectively and on time.
According to Climate Coalition, slow pace and so far poor results of implementing the necessary changes (e.g. act on energy efficiency) show that there is a lack of political will for complex implementation of the Package. „Preparation for its implementation should be an element of long-term strategies and development plans on different levels: national, regional and local. Meanwhile, work of different ministries is not coordinated enough and lasts too long. Preparations to implementation of the Package were not integrated with neither energy, transport, regional and agricultural policies, the Concept of the Country’s Spatial Management, expenditures from the EU funds, nor with establishing conditions for faster implementation of innovative solutions” – says Andrzej Kassenberg, Chairman of the Institute for Sustainable Development, a member of Climate Coalition. – „There is also a lack of wide information campaign on changes – drastic changes – that the Package will enforce in different sectors of economy. Entrepreneurs deprived of detailed knowledge will not be prepared for its implementation in a way most beneficial for them. The government should limit to minimum their insecurity and investment risk and therefore help to build on competitiveness of our companies”.
In order not to lose the chance for development and modernisation of Polish economy, the Climate Coalition demands an appointment – for a specific period of time– o government’s Commissioner for achieving the goals of the Climate and Energy Package. The Commissioner should be responsible for coordination of work of specific government agencies, including ministries of environment, economy, infrastructure, agriculture, finance and regional development. It would contribute to establishment of the most coherent and effective legal and institutional solutions. The list of issues – concerning only the greenhouse gases emission – to follow up by the end of 2012 in order to implement the Package, according to the National Administration of the Emissions Trading Scheme consists of approx. 60 positions. 1/3 of them should be completed by the end of 2009. The Commissioner would also deal with improvement of information flow among public administration officials and business representatives as well as provide up-to-date information on an influence of the Package on different sectors of economy. His activities should be based on a programme of implementation of the Package adopted by the Council of Ministers.
„It is about time that Poland started actively implement the Package instead of only trying to drift omitting supposedly uncomfortable solutions” – emphasises Zbigniew Karaczun, Chairman of Polish Ecological Club Mazovian Branch, a member of Climate Coalition.
The above described demands were presented during the press conference „Active implementation of the Climate and Energy Package in Poland? – a sum up of the first year and challenges for the upcoming ones” on 19 November 2009 in the PAP (Polish Press Agency) Press Centre in Warsaw.
Speakers at the conference:
Wojciech Stępniewski, WWF Poland, Climate Coalition – „Energy efficiency as the best tool to build Poland’s energy security”.
Tomasz Bańkowski, Warsaw district heating distribution company SPEC – „Basic challenge – modernization of energy grids”
Maciej Stryjecki, Foundation for Sustainable Energy System – „Development of renewable energy sources in Poland – diagnosis of barriers and opportunities”
Andrzej Kassenberg, Institute for Sustainable Development, Climate Coalition – „Actions and tools necessary for implementation of the Climate and Energy Package”
Speakers’ presentations and reports they were based on are available (in Polish only) at http://www.koalicjaklimatyczna.org/lang/pl/page/materialy_konferencyjne/id/8/
According to Climate Coalition, slow pace and so far poor results of implementing the necessary changes (e.g. act on energy efficiency) show that there is a lack of political will for complex implementation of the Package. „Preparation for its implementation should be an element of long-term strategies and development plans on different levels: national, regional and local. Meanwhile, work of different ministries is not coordinated enough and lasts too long. Preparations to implementation of the Package were not integrated with neither energy, transport, regional and agricultural policies, the Concept of the Country’s Spatial Management, expenditures from the EU funds, nor with establishing conditions for faster implementation of innovative solutions” – says Andrzej Kassenberg, Chairman of the Institute for Sustainable Development, a member of Climate Coalition. – „There is also a lack of wide information campaign on changes – drastic changes – that the Package will enforce in different sectors of economy. Entrepreneurs deprived of detailed knowledge will not be prepared for its implementation in a way most beneficial for them. The government should limit to minimum their insecurity and investment risk and therefore help to build on competitiveness of our companies”.
In order not to lose the chance for development and modernisation of Polish economy, the Climate Coalition demands an appointment – for a specific period of time– o government’s Commissioner for achieving the goals of the Climate and Energy Package. The Commissioner should be responsible for coordination of work of specific government agencies, including ministries of environment, economy, infrastructure, agriculture, finance and regional development. It would contribute to establishment of the most coherent and effective legal and institutional solutions. The list of issues – concerning only the greenhouse gases emission – to follow up by the end of 2012 in order to implement the Package, according to the National Administration of the Emissions Trading Scheme consists of approx. 60 positions. 1/3 of them should be completed by the end of 2009. The Commissioner would also deal with improvement of information flow among public administration officials and business representatives as well as provide up-to-date information on an influence of the Package on different sectors of economy. His activities should be based on a programme of implementation of the Package adopted by the Council of Ministers.
„It is about time that Poland started actively implement the Package instead of only trying to drift omitting supposedly uncomfortable solutions” – emphasises Zbigniew Karaczun, Chairman of Polish Ecological Club Mazovian Branch, a member of Climate Coalition.
The above described demands were presented during the press conference „Active implementation of the Climate and Energy Package in Poland? – a sum up of the first year and challenges for the upcoming ones” on 19 November 2009 in the PAP (Polish Press Agency) Press Centre in Warsaw.
Speakers at the conference:
Wojciech Stępniewski, WWF Poland, Climate Coalition – „Energy efficiency as the best tool to build Poland’s energy security”.
Tomasz Bańkowski, Warsaw district heating distribution company SPEC – „Basic challenge – modernization of energy grids”
Maciej Stryjecki, Foundation for Sustainable Energy System – „Development of renewable energy sources in Poland – diagnosis of barriers and opportunities”
Andrzej Kassenberg, Institute for Sustainable Development, Climate Coalition – „Actions and tools necessary for implementation of the Climate and Energy Package”
Speakers’ presentations and reports they were based on are available (in Polish only) at http://www.koalicjaklimatyczna.org/lang/pl/page/materialy_konferencyjne/id/8/
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