Translation into Polish of the Corporate Europe Observatory’s report about the big business influence on the Warsaw Climate Summit

Published by Corporate Europe Observatory, CEO, 21 November 2013.

Nieszczescia chodza parami – wielcy truciciele, polski rzad i ONZ

Corporate Europe Observatory

we wspolpracy badawczej z Karolina Jankowska

Goszczenie tegorocznej Konferencji Narodow Zjednoczonych nt. Zmian Klimatu, COP19, przez Polske, kraj w duzej mierze uzalezniony od wegla i cieszAcy sie zla slawa blokujacego ambitna polityke klimatyczna na poziomie UE, nie wrozy nic dobrego dla jej rezultatow. Polski rzad zaprosil prywatne korporacje do sponsorowania COP – choc przede wszystkim na konferencje, co wywolalo fale pytan, czy COP jest nadal powaznym miedzynarodowym spotkaniem najwyzszej wagi, czy tez znakomita szansa do lobbowania przez tych, ktorzy maja bezposredni komercyjny interes w spalaniu wiekszej ilosci paliw kopalnych. Fakt, ze jeden ze sponsorow biznesowych, producent stali ArcelorMittal, zaplacil za budowe pomieszczen konferencyjnych i umiescil na nich swoje logo, jest znamienitym symbolem “zawlaszczenia” (capture) przez korporacje procesu negocjacyjnego COP.

W miedzyczasie odbyl sie Miedzynarodowy Szczyt Wegla i Klimatu (International Coal and Climate Summit), zorganizowany przez Swiatowa Organizacje Wegla (World Coal Association) jako wydarzenie rownolegle, przy wsparciu polskiego Ministra Gospodarki. Wspolnie wydali oni tzw. “Komunikat Warszawski” (“Warsaw Communique”) proponujac wykorzystanie nieistniejAcego w rzeczywistosci “czystego wegla” (“clean coal”) do walki ze zmianami klimatu.

Contibution: report about the big business influence on the Warsaw Climate Summit

Published by Corporate Europe Observatory, with research contributions by Karolina Jankowska, 19 November 2013.

Trouble always comes in threes: Big polluters, the Polish government and the UN

It is an inauspicious sign for the outcome of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP19, that Poland, a country heavily dependent on coal and notorious for blocking more ambitious climate change policy at the EU level, is this year’s host for the meeting. The Polish Government has invited private corporate sponsorship of the COP a first for the conference raising questions of whether this is being taken seriously as an international meeting of paramount importance, or a facilitated lobbying opportunity for those who have a direct commercial interest in burning more fossil fuels. The fact that one business sponsor, the steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal, paid for the building of the structures housing the international meeting and has its logo on it is powerfully emblematic of how corporations have captured the COP process itself1. Meanwhile the International Coal and Climate Summit run by the World Coal Association is taking place as a parallel event, with the support of the Polish Ministry of the Economy; they have issued a joint “Warsaw Communique” proposing the non-existent “clean coal” to fight climate change.

 

New contribution: “The COP19 guide to corporate lobbying. Climate crooks and the Polish government’s partners in crime”

messecoverPublished by Corporate Europe Observatory, CEO, and Transnational Institute, TI, in October 2013. Research and writing: Rachel Tansey, with contributions from Karolina Jankowska, Nina Holland and Belen Balanya.

The COP19 Guide to Corporate Lobbying. Climate crooks and the Polish government’s partners in crime

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is yearly talks have become a “must attend” event for huge numbers of business and industry lobbyists, all eager to promote their preferred “solution” to tackling climate change – solutions which protect their business interests, provide them with new opportunities to profit and most importantly of all, allow them to continue polluting the climate and destroying the environment for everyone. False solutions to climate change have been promoted by powerful corporations and business interests for years, from a free market in pollution – a global carbon market that helps rich companies avoid emission cuts at source – to public funding for controversial technologies like carbon capture and storage (CCS), nuclear power and agrofuels which have been shown to harm people and the planet.

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Corporate lobbying at the climate talks

During the last couple of weeks before COP19 I will be helping Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) to expose how some of the companies are shaping the policies and positions of the Polish Government and the UN.

With your help, the help of donors, CEO will also produce and disseminate a who-is-who guide to corporate lobbying at the climate talks and work with activists and campaigners on the ground in Warsaw to build a strong civil society voice rejecting corporate capture both inside and outside COP19.

Check out the new CEO’s blog.

Articles on German energy policy and politics available online

The articles (in Polish) published this year in Czysta Energia: “German PV support policy: changes and challenges” and “Energy transition in Germany” are now available online on the Polish energy internet portal cire.pl.

The article “German PV support policy: changes and challenges” (in Polish: “Niemiecka polityka wsparcia PV – zmiany i wyzwania”) can be found here, and below as pdf file (source: cire.pl):

Karolina Jankowska Niemiecka polityka wsparcia PV zmiany i wyzwania

The artcile “Energy transition in Germany” (in Polish: “Transformacja energetyczna w Niemczech”) can be found here, and below as pdf file (source: cire.pl):

Karolina Jankowska Transformacja energetyczna w Niemczech