Michał Kurtyka – Can Poland balance coal and wind in a just transition?

In the 12th episode of Planet A, Dan Jørgensen talks with Poland’s Minister of Climate and Environment, Michał Kurtyka, about his experience as President of COP24 as well as his country’s goal to reduce coal power and build more renewable energy.

This is no small feat, considering how important coal mining is to the Polish economy.

Thus the overarching theme of this episode is the question of a “just transition” and its impact on Poland. The country has been the European heartland of coal mining for ages. When the Iron Curtain fell, more than 400.000 Poles worked in the coal industry. Today, that number is down to 80.000 people.

Kurtyka talks about the challenges to retrain coal miners for other jobs. He argues it is not a mere question of providing new opportunities, but that the strong identity of mining communities makes the transition difficult.

At the same time, Kurtyka has presented an ambitious plan to reduce coal power and deploy more renewable energy. He recently released ”PEP2040” - the plan for Poland’s energy policy to 2040 - aiming to reduce coal’s share of the country’s electricity generation from about 75% at present to 37-56% in 2030 and 11-28% by 2040. 

To reach the goal, Poland will build 8 GW capacity of offshore wind energy in the Baltic Sea. Drawing on Denmark’s extensive experiences with offshore wind, the Polish government is collaborating with its Danish counterpart.

Kurtyka is a truly remarkable political figure. He started his career as a civil servant, but made the unusual transition from civil service to political office, when he was appointed as Poland’s first Minister of Climate and Environment in 2019.

Prior to becoming a Minister, he worked as Poland’s State Secretary of Energy and the President of COP24 in 2018. In this capacity, he successfully guided the conference that led to the agreement of the so-called Katowice Rulebook.