Destination 2050: developing long-term climate strategy for Poland (National event)

On Wednesday, 26 June, WiseEuropa organised a conference “Destination 2050: developing long-term climate strategy for Poland”. The conference held in Warsaw was a joint event of two projects supported by the European Climate Initiative (EUKI): Climate Recon 2050 and Landscape of Climate Finance. The meeting attracted Polish and European experts in the field of low-carbon transformation, representatives of public administration, business and non-governmental organizations.

The conference was opened by Dr Maciej Bukowski, the chairman of WiseEuropa, who pointed out that the national long-term strategies across the EU are in the process of preparation which has  to be completed by the end of this year. One of the highlights of the conference was the presentation of Tom van Ierland (DG CLIMA), who provided an overview of the EU Long-Term Strategy and described key areas of intervention across the economy which are required to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

The first panel discussion was focused on national approaches to long-term strategies across Europe, with perspectives provided by Paweł Różycki from Polish Ministry of Environment, Juha Ottman, Ambassador of Finland to Poland, Maciej Pyrka from KOBiZE and Ewa Iwaszuk from Ecologic Institute. The second panel discussion explored sectoral transitions challenges with inputs from representatives of private sector, research institutions and NGOs: Monika Morawiecka (PGE Baltica), Marcin Lewenstein (InnoEnergy), Arkadiusz Węglarz (KAPE), Urszula Stefanowicz, (Climate Coalition), and Magdalena Bartecka  (Polish Green Network).

An interactive debate on the role of finance in the low-emission transition was the final part of the conference. There was an. Dr Maciej Bukowski (WiseEuropa’s chairman and a TEG member) presented the final results of the European Commission’s Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (TEG). Hadrien Hainaut from I4CE highlighted the role of public intervention in the financial transition towards low emission economy during his presentation. The session ended with discussion on the role of private investors in the transition towards a low emission economy and the lock-in risks for emission-intensive investments, which was led by Aki Kachi from NewClimate Institute.