As of now, Poland is busy hosting massive refugees from Ukraine invaded by the Russain Government. Poland has become an important country in the massive Russian-Ukraine war, with visits from US or Nato or for any mandatory needs to be supplied for the war.
What about sustainability? Are they able to maintain their sustainable internal affairs with the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis?
As per the Earth.org Global Sustainability Index, Poland is ranked 109th. In climate change, Poland is ranked 50th. A goal set by the EU committee for carbon neutrality by 2050, is something that seems impossible for Poland to achieve.
The country has to exempt and promise to achieve it at its own pace. The country is mainly running on coal for its electricity generation. The use of coal is said to be declining more rapidly by 2040 by shifting to nuclear, renewable energy sources.
Even though Carbon neutrality has been promised by Poland’s prime minister but a plan for a $33 million reserve of hard coal has been announced to meet the rising demand for coal mining.
However, Poland is aiming to reduce the electricity generated from coal by 60% by 2030. Poland is focusing on SDGs 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good health and well-being), 6 (Clean water and sanitation),7 (Affordable and clean energy), 11 (Sustainable cities and communities),12 (Responsible consumption and production), 13 (Climate Action) and 15 (Life on land).
The SDG priority for Poland is 3 and 11. The country is aiming for a better quality of life with sustainable cities and maintaining climate neutrality. To achieve the SDGs, Poland is focusing on the educational importance of sustainable development, efficient monitoring systems, and policy coherence.
As per the 2020 environmental sustainability index, Poland is excellent in the Forest and Biodiversity and Food and Agriculture pillars for the sustainable economy.
In my opinion, the commitment made by Poland shows that the government and the people are aware of the importance of sustainable development. However, every country has its economic conditions and scenarios that need to be dealt with its strength.
Poland is one such country in the EU where the dependency on coal is more than other EU countries. Finding alternative solutions is always the best but need time to make them more effective than what they have today.
Source:- Poland