Decarbonisation challenges for business

‘Decarbonisation cannot be a goal in itself’, said Jan Szyszko, Deputy Minister for Funds and Regional Policy, during a panel on the challenges for business connected with decarbonisation and the introduction of new technologies.

Szyszko admitted at the beginning of the discussion that ‘the Green Deal policy and the very term have not been received well by the public'. According to the deputy minister, this criticism cannot be ignored. ‘It is the responsibility of the government to shape decarbonisation, green and development policies in such a way that they receive public support This aspect has been neglected not only in Poland, but across Europe in recent years, and the result was the last year's protests’, Szyszko said. He believes that these protests ‘were caused more by a lack of communication or a sense of exclusion of particular groups from the decision-making process than by the actual rules of the Green Deal’.

‘We should first and foremost ensure that these reforms have a smaller impact on less wealthy people, as well as on companies that already face difficulties. So that those who can afford it pay a relatively higher price for the decarbonisation processes’, explained the Deputy Minister.

Szyszko also pointed out that ETS2, scheduled to come into force in 2027, ‘requires a lot of thought’ – so that ‘it is not a system that makes the least well-off pay the biggest share. Unfortunately, this is what the current version of ETS2 looks like’, he commented.

Zbigniew Liptak, partner and leader of the regulatory advisory team at EY, stressed that the transition towards green energy ‘obviously makes sense from the point of view of the environment and climate, but it also makes economic sense’. ‘If we have more green energy, then (...) hydrocarbons from the East become less necessary and therefore cheaper. We will no longer finance countries that are not necessarily on our side', he said, reminding that when it comes to the EU's trade in goods with the rest of the world, 'we pay most for hydrocarbons'.

Liptak also listed the industry's requests regarding the Green Deal – better and more stable rules, financing, accountability and securing markets. ‘We mean open trade, which favours green products, not necessarily cheaper because of it. There are 27 member states of the EU. In total there are 450 million people, so it is a huge market. We have leverage as the EU. We can direct regulations in a way that ensures that the recipients of green industrial goods are this huge group of recipients who, when compared to the rest of the world, are well-off‘, he explained.

He also pointed to a weakness of the EU – the number of member states. ‘Our politicking, reaching a consensus among 27 countries, is often not in line with reality. We compete with countries that have shorter decision-making processes and more money, and we cannot let them outpace us’, he assessed.

Associate professor and professor of engineering Marek Ściążko, from the AGH University of Science and Technology, emphasised the importance of eliminating CO2 through efficiency processes and the introduction of renewable energy into production, but added that ‘there are, industries that will emit if they are to manufacture’. CCS (carbon capture and storage) technology is seen as a chance for them.

‘This requires one crucial thing: the construction of transport and storage infrastructure. And this has to be tackled at the level of government decisions‘, said the professor. ‘In no government documents (...) as of today do we clearly refer to the timeframe in which we intend to create an infrastructure for transporting and storing CO2’, he stated.

‘Someday this technology is going to be cheaper; once the infrastructure is in place, it will be easier’, stated President of Holcim Polska, in his response to professor of engineering Maciej Sypek. ‘In my view, we are pioneers. We blaze the trail. We develop a supply chain from the Kujawy Cement Plant to the North Sea, a very long, multi-stage chain, so we need partners in many places who think like us and to whom time is crucial', he said.

‘This is not just about money. It's about setting priorities to get the project moving. Once this happens, the effect of scale will follow’, urged Sypek. ‘We have the most expensive energy in the EU. CCS technology is very energy-intensive, so we have to look at this issue from a competitive perspective to compete with other countries. This issue must be our priority’, he emphasised.