A CLIMATIC CAROUSEL
MIROSÅAW PIOTROWSKI
The climatic carousel stopped, that is, the nineteenth Session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change about the changes in climate - COP19. It was held in Warsaw and lasted two weeks. The hosting country was Poland. The climate summit was presided over by the Polish Environment Minister Marcin Korolec who in the mid of the debates was dismissed by the prime minister Donald Tusk. This dismissal met with a strong criticism of foreign media, especially the German ones, paying attention to neglecting the conference participants through this act. The minister Korolec was dismissed not for his style of presiding the summit meeting, but allegedly within the broader reconstruction of the government. Also Mrs. minister of sport Anna Mucha, to whom the National Stadium was subject and in which the debates were held, was also dismissed from her post. Organization of the climate summit meeting cost 100 million zlotys Poland, that is, all of us, and the very hiring the stadium for the debates - over 26 million zlotys.
The conference was attended by 12 thousand people from 194 countries. 2.5 thousand technical workers were engaged as operating personnel. During the summit meeting 3 tons of dumplings, 3 tons of meat, one ton of fish, 12 thousand apples and 25 thousand bars of chocolate were given out. Calories strengthening of the participants of the summit meeting was to induce them to resilient rescuing the planet named the Earth. Results turned out to be poor. It was not possible to negotiate a new agreement about the reduction of greenhouse gases and despite of announcements of the dismissed environment minister, the summit meeting 'did not pour out any fundaments under the new global agreement concerning the climate policy'. German newspapers wrote about 'the minimum progress', 'weak ray of hope' and a Berlin newspaper called the meeting in Warsaw 'a summit meeting of absurd', concluding that it had failed to finish successfully. From the Polish point of view the failure of the summit meeting means a quiet victory. For, most Western comments see drastic EU regulations connected with climatic changes, and the mentioned summit meeting referred to the protocol from Kioto which obliged all industrialized countries to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide by 5 per cent in the ratio to the base year of 1990. Poland is a primus here, because it reduced the emission of carbon dioxide by 30 per cent and other countries like Spain or Portugal, increase the emission of carbon dioxide by relatively 21 and 16 per cent. According to the Polish Electric Energy Committee, Poland emits carbon dioxide twice less to the atmosphere than Germany, and the German energetic sector produces more energy on the base of coal every year than Poland. In the European Union Polandis only in the 5th place in the respect of emission of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, after such countries as: France, Italy, Great Britain and Germany. In the Federal Republic citizens resort to coal because of soaring costs of renewable energy, which many of them cannot afford. In the opinion of the representative of the Berlin Caritas, in the capital city of Germany, not rich 'people think three times before buying an expensive energy-economical light bulb, or rather eating a warm dinner. First they must be able to afford saving energy' - he adds. Energy based on coal is cheaper not only in Germany but also in Poland, and modern Charcoal plants do not have to pollute the environment as it has been so far. It was explained by organizers and participants of the International Summit Meeting of Coal and Climate, who, at the same time, organized their own conference, jumping onto the climate carousel. This conference was attended by 400 representatives of the coal branch, who listened to 40 speakers. They opposed to the 'EU political decarbonization'. They proved that liquidation of energetics based on fossil fuels reminds the diversion of a river flow. They also pointed to practical possibilities of reducing the emission of greenhouse gases with burning coal.
Restrictive plans of the European Union in limiting emission of carbon dioxide will result in the increase of prices of electrical energy by a few dozen per cent during a few years, also influencing the reduce of competitiveness of the Polish economy on the EU market and in the world. I wish miners good and safe work, and I wish all of us finding safe shelter in the escape from climatic EU provisions.
(AA)
"Niedziela" 50/2013