Economia - pubblicata il 23 Maggio 2023
Source: European Commission Spokesperson’s Service
Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, will be visiting the cities of Łódź and Konin in Poland tomorrow. With local authorities and stakeholders, he will discuss the progress made at local level on the green transition and the challenges ahead to ensure that the path towards a climate-neutral economy in those coal regions happens in a fair way, bringing new job opportunities and prosperity for all.
In Łódź, he will participate in the Local Government Climate Congress 2023, where he will deliver an opening speech on the EU’s green transformation and just transition. The audience will include mayors from cities that are part of the EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. Ahead of the Congress, Executive Vice-President Timmermans will meet with several mayors who are part of Council of the Union of Polish Metropolises and other associations of local authorities. While in Łódź, he will also hold a dialogue with students and youth representatives.
In the afternoon, the Executive Vice-President will continue his discussions with local stakeholders in the city of Konin. He will complete his visit to the country with a site visit to the ZE PAK renewable hydrogen project. Funded through the Innovation Fund by revenues from the Emissions Trading System, this project aims to build a 5MW pilot water electrolysis system to produce renewable hydrogen for the public bus transport sector in Poland.
Łódź and Konin are part of the Polish regions that will benefit from funding through the Just Transition Fund. In December 2022, the Commission adopted the Polish Operational Programmes with Territorial Just Transition Plans (TJTPs) for the regions of Łódzkie and Wielkopolska, among others. The TJTPs for Łódzkie and Wielkopolska are worth €369.5 million and €415 million respectively and will support a fair climate transition in those coal regions. EU funding in the Łódzkie region will be invested in new business infrastructure for local SMEs and in research laboratories, in energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment, and further support workers currently employed in the Bełchatów power plant as well as in mining and related sectors. The funding for the Konin subregion of Wielkopolska will help to turn the page on lignite extraction. The funds will support training and reskilling activities for 5,500 workers in the lignite industry.