Poland: Climate transition presents regional challenges
After falling behind the climate policy progress of other European nations, the transition to renewable energy sources has become increasingly important for Poland in recent years. Given the size of its coal industry, there will be significant economic consequences associated with decarbonisation, but these will be spread unevenly across the country. Therefore, we have modelled a range of scenarios which show potential pathways towards net zero and their regional implications.
What you will learn:
- Poland produces the largest amount of coal in the EU. However, growing global pressure to tackle climate change and the increasing importance of energy security has prompted a shift away from highly polluting fuels. The burden of the climate transition will mainly fall on carbon-intensive production industries sectors and therefore regions that are more dependent on these, such as those in the southwest of Poland, will undertake the highest risk and cost.
- Regions with coal mines and power plants will be particularly vulnerable, but with the electricity sector forecast to perform well in our Net Zero scenario and plans to help these regions adopt clean energy sources such as wind and solar, they are forecast to benefit from the transition.
- Major cities such as Warsaw are less reliant on carbon-intensive sectors and instead specialise in high-value ICT and financial and business services. These service-oriented cities will maintain a growth premium over the rest of Poland, and their low wages and highly skilled workers will help them retain their high position in the European growth rankings in our net zero pathways.

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