What kind of climate will we have? First Polish Multimedia Climate Report

The first Polish Multimedia Climate Report based on good practices and innovative solutions for the environment is being prepared by the Clean Air Foundation in close collaboration with Polish experts and scientists. The Report will have its premiere before the second edition of TOGETAIR Climate Summit 2021 (21-23 April).

The Report is the first so comprehensive and multi-theme presentation of key topics in ecology and economics under the patronage of the Minister of Climate and Environment. The Report is to serve as a tool for environmental education through the promotion of pro-environmental activities, clean technologies and best practices. It is intended to be a source of reliable information on current and future activities of the government and its subordinate institutions, as well as local governments, scientists and businesses in the area of Polish climate policy and environmental protection.

The Report's objective is also to promote Polish climate policy abroad. The Report, translated into English, German and French, promoted in foreign media and distributed in the decision-making centers of the EU and its Member States, will help to better understand the complex issues of climate and environmental protection. The Report will also serve as a valuable tool for Poland during the next round of the New Green Deal negotiations. The report’s content will be presented in a multimedia format to reach the widest possible audience.

According to Adam Struzik, Marshall of the Mazowieckie voivodship, this modern online portal will collect in one place views, recommendations and good practices related to climate and protection of the natural environment: Its content will be based on the most important conclusions of the first edition of the TOGETAIR Climate Summit in which we partnered as the voivodeship’s local government. The most important goal is to highlight actions taken by our country, both on the level of national and local administration, and to present to the European Union the Polish position on ecology and CO₂ emission reductions.

Together for climate

Last year's success of the first edition of the TOGETAIR Climate Summit resulted in cooperation with the leading Polish experts. In the report they analyse trends, develop solutions and prepare comprehensive sets of data, facts and figures that provide a picture of the Polish way to climate neutrality and the barriers, difficulties, and challenges, but also opportunities that lie ahead. Energy transition is an opportunity for develop innovations and new technologies, as well as a real possibility to improve the quality of life of many Poles - says Agata Śmieja, President of the Clean Air Foundation.

The report will provide answers to questions such as:

• What should Poland's energy mix look like in 2030, 2040 and 2050?
• What should be done to deal with the mass of waste lingering in landfills and often ending up in oceans and poisoning us with millions of microplastic particles?
• How do we protect regions prone to desertification and save agriculture from the disastrous effects of drought?
• How to finally combat smog that still shrouds Polish cities and villages?
• What can be done to make the circular economy model a viable alternative to the current, still dominant, linear production model in which many businesses are stuck?
• How to encourage regions to adopt anti-smog resolutions and encourage municipalities to participate in the fight against smog and reduce emissions polluting villages and cities?

The answers are provided by experts, representatives of the scientific and business community, the government and NGOs as well as local governments who are all aware of the importance of educating citizens and working at the grassroots level to make the energy transition plans work.

Input and knowledge is also provided by government institutions such as the Ministry of Climate and Environment, National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, National Centre for Research and Development, State Forests, National Climate Change Centre (a unit of the Institute of Environmental Protection - National Research Institute).

TOGETAIR content partners also include representatives of non-governmental organizations and institutions, such as the Jagiellonian Institute, Republican Foundation, Polish Smog Alarm, UN Global Compact Network Poland and World Bank.

... as well as representatives of currently more than 10 universities: Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw University, AGH University of Science and Technology, Rzeszow University of Technology, Silesian University of Technology, Warsaw University of Technology, Catholic University of Lublin, A. Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Wroclaw University of Life Sciences, University of Szczecin.

The report will be publicly available at raport.togetair.eu

We believe that involvement of all the country's sectors will make it possible to initiate changes in the Polish economy on a national and regional level. In the Polish Multimedia Climate Report and during the Climate Summit we will present our priorities and directions of reforms needed to meet the ambitious targets we have set ourselves, Agata Śmieja concludes.

PKO Bank Polski is aware of the responsibility falling upon financial institutions with respect to environmental protection, and our actions are consistent and multipronged. In 2020 we significantly reduced CO₂ emissions generated by the Group companies, incorporated ESG assessment into the lending process and launched - together with PKO TFI - the PKO Renewable Energy FIZAN fund. In 2021 we will implement further initiatives, including those leveraging the technological potential of Poland's largest bank. The TOGETAIR Climate Summit is a very important initiative and being a part of it we are willing to share our experience in the area of green transformation, declares Rafał Antczak, Vice President of PKO Bank Polski and member of the TOGETAIR Climate Summit Programme Council.

Climate Summit

TOGETAIR 2021 is also the second edition of the Climate Summit taking place from 21 to 23 April.

The Climate Summit is a 3-day online hybrid event, broadcast from the congress TV studio, during which the consequences of climate change and just transition as well as ways to ensure our country has clean air are discussed. The Summit is a space for a nationwide debate on climate and environmental protection in Poland.

The aim of the TOGETAIR Climate Summit is to initiate joint actions of all sectors of the country: central government and local governments, scientific and business communities, NGOS and media, aimed at protecting the environment and creating an ambitious, economically rational Polish climate policy.

More than 40 thousand - that's how many lives were taken by the Covid-19 pandemic in Poland over the past year and the same number of Poles die every year because of smog. In the Małopolska region we are aware of the deadly effects of air pollution. Pioneering anti-smog resolutions and the Air Protection Program have clearly improved the situation, especially in Cracow. But air knows no administrative borders, and only by acting together can we hope to succeed. Reliable studies and constructive debates are still in short supply. This is why I gladly accepted the invitation to take part in the TOGETAIR 2021 Climate Summit and I am eagerly awaiting the Polish Multimedia Climate Report. Only by diagnosing the problems can we overcome them, says Tomasz Urynowicz, Deputy Marshal of Małopolska Voivodeship.

The fight against smog, modernisation of the heating sector, energy transition, development of hydrogen technology and the future of wind energy, as well as low-emission transport, electromobility and switching the economy to a circular model based on recycling and re-use of raw materials - these are among the most pressing challenges that must be tackled in the coming years. It is also a great opportunity for a civilizational leap forward that will be shared by all Poles. However, the success of such efforts will depend not only on the top-down policy and availability of funds, but primarily on the cooperation of all market participants: central authorities, government administration, local governments, entrepreneurs and non-governmental organizations.

The event is organized under the honorary patronage of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the key ministries for ecology, with active participation of government representatives, voivodship marshals and local government officials, as well as representatives of medium and large businesses, academia, local communities and non-governmental organizations.

We want TOGETAIR to become a space for cooperation and exchange of ideas for efficient and effective transition of the Polish economy to modernity. We consider it a priority to work out solutions that will reconcile care for the environment with economic development in a rational and sustainable manner, taking into account both the increasing requirements of the EU climate policy and our local conditions, Śmieja adds.

The panels of the event have been divided into 5 thematic blocks – elements:

Fire
• Energy of the past - what to do with coal and fossil fuels?
• Energy of the future - what should be the pillar for building a modern, green Poland?
Air
• Smog: reduction of emissions in the building sector
• Green transport of the future
Earth
• Utility management in municipalities - investment needs, market backlogs, systemic gaps
• The future of plastic, recycling and the circular economy
Water
• Droughts, small retention and challenges of water management on local ground
• The future of rivers and water in the national perspective
Mankind
• The world after the pandemic and before the climate crisis
• The impact of climate on human health

The biggest ecological congress

The Report and the Summit will be supported by a wide-ranging promotional campaign in the national media. Discussed and described issues, positions and proposals will be highlighted and broadcast by media patrons, including Polsat News, Polish Radio, Wirtualna Polska, Money.pl, PAP, Interia.pl, ISBNews, naszemiasto.pl, Energetyka24, 300klimat, as well as the social media.

Thanks to such extensive cooperation with the media, every Pole will be able to access the most important content of the panels FOR FREE. The number of views of this year's TOGETAIR Summit is estimated at around 15 million. This is the biggest and unique environmental congress in Poland.

The organizers welcome cooperation and participation of both journalists and editorial offices as well as entities wishing to promote knowledge in the field of conscious ecology.

There will be free and unlimited access during the conference to adequately prepared and equipped conference rooms, where both global and local topics will be discussed.

Journalists will be able to attend a press breakfast and press box every day, where they will have an opportunity to comment and provide a quick recap of each day of the Summit, as well as to participate in exclusive Q&A sessions during the event.

Held entirely online, TOGETAIR will provide a unique opportunity to speak with partners, top-performing executives, visionaries and trendsetters in key areas of ecology.

We believe that TOGETAIR will become a permanent element of the Polish public debate and conversations about the environment and the economy initiated in the report and during the summit will stimulate positive changes. We believe that nowadays dialogue and cooperation are the foundation on which we have a chance to build a green Poland friendly to citizens and entrepreneurs alike, Śmieja concludes.

TOGETAIR
➢ Under the Honorary Patronage of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki
➢ Under the patronage of Marshals of Dolnośląskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lubelskie, Lubuskie, Łódzkie, Małopolskie, Mazowieckie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Śląskie, Świętokrzyskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Wielkopolskie, Pomorskie and Zachodniopomorskie Voivodships.
➢ Programme Council chaired by Michał Kurtyka, Minister of Climate and Environment (https://togetair.eu/rada-programowa)
➢ PKN ORLEN is the strategic partner
➢ Details of the Climate Summit programme and the full list of partners: https://togetair.eu
➢ PARTICIPATION IN THE ONLINE EVENT IS FREE OF CHARGE
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Work on the Polish Multimedia Climate Report has been uninterrupted since the end of the first edition of the TOGETAIR Climate Summit held in June 2020 under the Honorary Patronage of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
The event resonated with the media, getting over 1,500 citations, 3,5 million streams of the main event and reaching over 12 million users in total.
In addition, the Summit's organizer, the Clean Air Foundation, provided over 30,000 free consultations on the Clean Air Program, actively contributing to the reduction of smog in Poland.