European Union climate policy – a challenge or an opportunity for the Polish economy

EU countries want to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Building a zero-carbon economy and society is both an urgent challenge (due to increasingly frequent extreme weather events) and an opportunity to create new jobs and economic opportunities. The green transition is also a necessary step toward reducing the EU's energy dependence. Replacing fossil fuels with cleaner forms of energy will reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions while reducing the EU's dependence on Russian gas.

The Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022. In the shadow of these tragic events, the climate crisis caused by the burning of fossil fuels leading to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere continues to escalate. However, the geopolitical situation has generated a number of fundamental questions. The most important of these is, are renewable energy sources (RES), energy efficiency and nuclear power a climate saver, while also being able to protect the EU and Poland from a major energy and economic crisis? What about the transition period? Does the EU's decarbonization policy need to be rewritten?

It is worth emphasizing that while the war in Ukraine may slow down the decarbonization processes in Europe and especially in Poland in the initial period, in the slightly longer term it may significantly accelerate the energy transition.