Greenpeace Poland sues largest carbon emitter in the country

Greenpeace Poland filed a lawsuit against PGE GiEK, a subsidiary of state-owned utility PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna, at the Regional Court in Lódz. Greenpeace demands that PGE GiEK stop any further fossil fuel investments and achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from its existing coal plants by 2030 at the latest.

Greenpeace Poland director Paweł Szypulski, said: 

“Three in every four Poles agree that our economy needs to quit coal in the next decade, which is exactly what scientists have said we need to do in order to limit the most negative impacts of climate change. Greenpeace Poland is suing PGE GiEK on behalf of the environment and the public. We are seeking to establish a national deadline to phase out coal and decarbonize the country by 2030. Prime Minister Morawiecki has failed to deliver on that commitment, so we are going after the single biggest source of carbon emissions in our country to get it done.”

“A coal phase out paired with dynamic growth of renewable energy sources is the only way forward for PGE GiEK and the whole energy sector in Poland. Rapid closure of coal-fired power plants will put an end to the destruction of our environment while renewable energy can provide solutions to the climate crisis we are facing.”

PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna is the biggest utility in Poland. About 90% of the power produced by the PGE conglomerate comes from burning coal. By its own account, PGE GiEK mines and burns between 85% to 90% of lignite in the country and is its biggest power producer, covering as much as 36% of the country’s electricity needs during some months. In 2018 alone, PGE GiEK’s carbon emissions amounted to approximately 57 million tonnes. The company added more coal units in Opole and Turów since then. On average, PGE GiEK generates about 20% of Poland’s total annual carbon emissions.

The lawsuit against PGE GiEK is just one of many steps being taken forward by Greenpeace Poland to address the climate crisis in the country. Just before Katowice’s COP24 in November 2018, a group of activists climbed a cooling tower at Bełchatów and called the Polish government to phase out coal by 2030.[1] As activists ended their peaceful protest at the power plant, Greenpeace Poland announced that it will use all means available to accelerate the decarbonisation of the country. One recent example is the application of the organisation’s Programme Director for the CEO position at PGE with the objective of implementing a new company strategy to achieve decarbonisation by the end of the decade.

Greenpeace Poland’s statement of claim is not publicly available. Additional information will be published once the Regional Court in Łódź renders its judgment.

ENDS

[1] PGE GiEK also owns and operates Bełchatów’s power plant, the world’s largest lignite coal-fired power plant that produces an estimated 38 million tonnes of carbon each year, making it the biggest single source of carbon emissions in Europe.