Analysis of the “Adaptation strategy for sectors and areas vulnerable to climate change to 2020 with an outlook to 2030 (SPA 2020)”

Poland performs very badly in all kinds of rankings related to environmental protection and usually ranks last compared to other EU countries. Several programmes and strategies are currently being implemented to improve this situation. These include both national and local government documents. The author presents the most important of these and analyses both their provisions and the effectiveness of their implementation. One of the key aspects of adaptation to climate change is Poland’s energy transition from coal-based power generation to renewable energy sources. Unfortunately, over the past few years, legislators and regulators have significantly impeded this process, particularly with regard to photovoltaic energy and wind energy, as well as biogas plants. A significant problem is also the limitation of funding for this transformation, due to the blocking by the EU institutions of the disbursement of funds from the National Reconstruction Programme. Without the unblocking of these funds and the effective implementation of existing programmes and strategies, Poland will remain one of the most polluted EU countries with an archaic energy mix.