Europe has entered a phase of economic and political verification of its climate transition, balancing the cost of regulation against competition from the United States and China and the pressure to keep its economy secure. That tension shaped the opening session of the fifth Business PRECOP in Katowice, held under the heading „Europe after the era of green enthusiasm: how to reconcile climate, economy and competitiveness?”
The two-day conference runs at the International Congress Centre in Katowice on 30 September and 1 October 2026. It prepares participants for COP31, the UN Climate Change Conference held from 9 to 20 November 2026 in Antalya, Turkey. The programme includes 30 panel discussions and 150 speakers from UN and EU institutions, administration, business, science and social organisations. Energy Days, devoted to the power sector, runs in the same building.
Kamil Wyszkowski, country representative and executive director of UN Global Compact Network Poland, a co-organiser of the event, said the format has been tested for five years.
– Climate negotiations are intergovernmental. Very few people realise that the exercise we have been running for five years is a chance to consult the private sector on what happens at successive climate summits – said Kamil Wyszkowski.
He named three overlapping crises — climate, biodiversity and pollution — and called confronting all of them an expression of „empathy of generations”.
– Without a stable climate and a safe environment, your industry and your investments will simply cease to exist. It is time for courage, not false pragmatism – said Franciszek Niemczewski of the board of the Foundation of Friends of the Youth Climate Strike.
– With renewables investment moving too slowly, raw material and goods prices rising and weather anomalies growing, instead of speeding up we are slowing down – said Franciszek Niemczewski.
Negotiators warn the window is closing
Niclas Svenningsen, a manager in the secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), stressed the role of companies.
– It is business that can help deliver the 2030 agenda and accelerate climate action – said Niclas Svenningsen.
– Not long ago there were scenarios about what would happen because of climate change. We already live in that „future” – said Niclas Svenningsen.
He said the goal is to return to the Paris Agreement and, crucially, to adapt and act so that the average temperature rise does not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius, noting that local leaders act now instead of waiting for the next COP.
Katarzyna Wrona, director of the air protection and climate negotiations department at the Ministry of Climate and Environment, said the summit will take place in the shadow of the biggest energy crisis since the Second World War.
– This will push polarisation away and let us focus on one goal. We will show that there is more motivation for climate action. It is a price crisis, but in Asia it is a crisis of access to energy; that is how the transition accelerates, with demand for electric cars or photovoltaic panels – said Katarzyna Wrona.
– Every country pursues climate goals at its own pace, and that pace is not equal. Europe has very ambitious targets, but it accounts for 5-6 per cent of global emissions and will not save the world – said Katarzyna Wrona.
Maria Andrzejewska, vice-president of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and director general of UNEP/GRID-Warsaw, described the consequences for the continent.
– Everything suggests that already next year we will exceed 1.7 degrees compared with the pre-industrial era – warned Maria Andrzejewska.
– The state of the climate affects access to water and biodiversity in Europe, and the functioning of enterprises is at risk. No agreement will stop these changes if we do not start transforming faster – said Maria Andrzejewska.
– We define climate and environmental matters badly when we speak only of costs and difficulties, of a lack of competitiveness – said Maciej Nowicki, environment minister in 2007-2010.
Warsaw counts the bill
Deputy energy minister Konrad Wojnarowski (PSL) argued that Poland’s transformation does not look bad against the rest of Europe, especially as climate goals must now be reconciled with defence spending.
– Poland is investing heavily in changing its energy mix — in renewables such as offshore wind, in energy storage and in new technologies such as hydrogen. By 2030 we will invest 100 billion zlotys in grids, and in the following years another 80 billion zlotys – said Konrad Wojnarowski.
Michał Orłowski, vice-president for asset management and development at Tauron Polska Energia, said conventional generation is posting very good results in Poland.
– Because of rising gas prices we temporarily have a return to higher coal production, simply because we lack energy in the system. There is significant redispatching of solar power, because in summer there is too much of it. But changes in cycles do not necessarily mean a change of trajectory. The direction of emission cuts is inevitable for Europe – said Michał Orłowski.
Wanda Buk, an advisor to the President of Poland, warned that competitiveness is being lost.
– Security does not grow on trees, you have to buy it and earn money for it – said Wanda Buk.
– The last two or three decades have seen a decline in the competitiveness of the European economy. You spoke of decarbonisation as independence from imports and resilience. Where is the independence when 96 per cent of PV panels come from China? – asked Wanda Buk.
– By pushing industry out of Europe to China, where products are made to worse environmental standards, we de facto raise emissions – argued Wanda Buk.
Participants heard that trade with China alone means a billion euros of costs for Europe and 500 jobs a day.
– The energy transition should not be part of a political dispute. It pays off in the long run, from the point of view of security and the environment – appealed Kamil Wyszkowski.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. PTWP
