Poland defends coal conference amid criticism

Polish environment minister on Tuesday defended a coal conference to be held along with the annual UN climate talks amid criticism that the coal-reliant country was misusing its presidency. On the second day of the 19th round of global climate talks, or COP19, Marcin Korolec hinted that the coal conference could be helpful for developing countries that depend on coal. "As far as I know, the conference is dedicated to mobilizing new technologies and research and development," Korolec, also serving as the president of the COP19, told Xinhua. Environment groups and civil society organizations gathering in Warsaw to observe the climate talks have strongly opposed the coal conference, to be held next Monday. However, Korolec said the conference would be held only on the margins and not as an official part of the COP. But he failed to address concerns that UN climate chief Christiana Figueres would attend the coal conference and give a keynote talk. Poland is known for being an outspoken defender of coal energy. It ranks fifth for carbon dioxide pollution in the European Union (EU), behind Germany, Britain, Italy and France, whose economies are far bigger. Coal accounts for nearly 90 percent of Poland's electricity generation for its 38 million people. Although the country has started restructuring its energy mix to boost renewable energies, coal will likely remain a major energy source. Also on Tuesday, Poland was given the sarcastic "Fossil of the Day" award by a coalition of international environment groups. It was named the winner for the longest list of reasons ever, including preventing more ambitious climate action by the EU, co-hosting the coal conference during COP19, and inviting polluting companies to sponsor COP19. Poland was also criticized for misusing its position as the COP presidency to advance its own coal agenda, and acting as the public relations department of the coal industry. Still, the Polish environment minister insisted that his country would aim to help reach consensus among all parties at the climate talks, especially on climate funds and a loss and damage mechanism for crisis-hit developing countries. "We will search for convergence in very delicate elements such as the finance and the loss and damage mechanism, and we hope to have a number of decisions by the end of this week," he said. Another major objective for the two-week climate talks is to lay the groundwork for a new global climate deal to be signed in 2015 in Paris, he said.