This article is part of our special report Poland’s energy transition.
For decades, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic have been at the heart of Europe’s so-called “lignite triangle” which produces most of the continent’s coal-based electricity. But with climate change now a top political priority, the priority is shifting to renewables.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres says all OECED countries must phase out coal by 2030 at the latest in order to comply with the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The European Union’s objective, agreed by EU leaders in December 2019, is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. That means Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic – the top three coal burners in Europe – are coming under growing pressure to transition to clean energy.
THE European Parliament agreed the EU-UK Trade Co-operation Agreement today, confirming the post-Brexit deal thrashed out between Brussels and London.
A resolution condemning Brexit as a “historic mistake” but supporting the deal as a way of limiting “negative fallout” from it passed by 578 to 51 votes with 68 abstentions. It was agreed by MPs at Westminster on December 30.
“The EU and the UK have created the basis for a relationship among equals,” announced EU Parliament foreign affairs committee chairman Andreas Schieder.
But the agreement has been criticised on the left on both sides of the Channel for maintaining EU restrictions on state aid and public ownership, while failing to prevent attacks on workers’ rights.