Poland supports climate protection but wants costs shared - FM

Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz told public radio on Monday that Poland is in favour of climate protection, but that the Polish energy industry is based on coal, and that the costs of transformation are high and should be shared. During an EU summit on Thursday and Friday last week, provisions in the Council conclusions concerning a move to EU-wide carbon neutrality by 2050 were blocked by Poland and some other Central and Eastern European member states. Czaputowicz explained on Monday that Poland would like Western European member states, in which the transformation costs are lower, to "show solidarity and participate in the costs." The foreign minister denied that Poland was standing in the way of care for the world's climate. "Of course we are for protecting the climate, limiting pollution, but that was a political declaration," he said. "We want to make sure that these aims can be achieved..."