This report explores options to scale upand accelerate the energy transition to cleaner electricityand district heating generation mixes and reconcile thegovernment’s concerns over the serious local air pollutionand commitments to combat climate change. The report drawsthree main conclusions from the analyses and consultationscarried out during the last six months: Despite impressiveprogress towards sustainability, Poland’s coal-dominatedenergy sector imposes heavy health costs on its population.A recent World Bank report estimated that the cost ofambient air pollution amounts to about USD 31-40 billion,equivalent to 6.4-8.3 percent of GDP in 2016. Moreover,deterioration of ambient air quality is responsible for asignificant health burden with an estimated 44,500 prematuredeaths per year. The ambitious cleaner strategy to scale uprenewable energy sources in the power and district heatinggeneration mix is economically justified, if local andglobal environmental benefits are accounted for. Poland ismoving in the right direction on energy transition with itsenvisioned targets on renewable energy, but achieving themore ambitious targets under the European Union EmissionTrading Scheme requires intensified efforts to scale up andaccelerate the penetration of clean energy. Active labormarket policies can help mitigate employment impacts, whichare expected to be negligible at national level and modestat local level given a dynamic economy and tight labor.
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