Greenpeace Poland has filed a lawsuit against PGE CiEK, a subsidiary of state-owned coal plants.
PGE is the biggest producer of power in Poland and about 90% of the power it produces comes from the burning of coal.
In 2018 alone, PGE CiEK’s carbon emissions amounted to approximately 57 million tonnes and since then, the company has added more coal units in Opole and Turów.
It is estimated that PGE owned power plants are responsible for 20% of Poland’s total annual carbon emissions.
Greenpeace has demanded that PGE stop any further fossil fuel investments and achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from its existing coal plants by 2030 at the latest.
The lawsuit against PGE is just one of many steps being taken by Greenpeace Poland to address the climate crisis in the country. They have said that they will use all means available to accelerate the decarbonisation of the country.
Greenpeace Poland director Paweł Szypulski, said: ‘Three in every four Poles agree that our economy needs to quit coal in the next decade, which is exactly what scientists have said we need to do in order to limit the most negative impacts of climate change.
‘Greenpeace Poland is suing PFE GiEK on behalf of the environment and the public.
‘We are seeking to establish a national deadline to phase out coal and decarbonize the country by 2030.
‘Prime Minister Morawiecki has failed to deliver on that commitment, so we are going after the single biggest source of carbon emissions in our country to get it done.
‘A coal phase-out paired with dynamic growth of renewable energy sources is the only way forward for PGE GiEK and the whole energy sector in Poland. Rapid closure of coal-fired power plants will put an end to the destruction of our environment while renewable energy can provide solutions to the climate crisis we are facing.’
In related news, the UK’s sharp decline in coal use is largely down to the coal carbon tax, according to researchers at University College London (UCL) and the University of Cambridge.
The tax was introduced at a rate of £4.94 per tonnes of CO2 and is now capped at £18 per tonne until 2021.