Polish coal scrutinized by new Vatican report

The recent Polish translation of Pope Francis’ ecologically focused encyclical could lead to some disgruntlement in Poland. The encyclical will be presented officially on Thursday, barely a week after the G-7 summit in Germany focused on climate change and environmental conservation, and a few months before the UN Climate Summit in Paris in late fall. The document has ruffled feathers in Poland, because, as Rzeczpospolita reports, Pope Francis dedicates an ample amount of space to discussing emissions related to coal extraction and their contribution to climate change. While this is not the first time a pope has appealed for environmental conservation, the latest encyclical could be considered by some as overwhelmingly anti-coal, and consequently anti-Poland. Poland is in the top twenty CO2 emitting countries in the world, and one of the top in the EU, with 331.1 million tons of CO2 emitted annually. The latest energy and climate conservation package enacted by Brussels last year, requires Poland to reduce its carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030 (compared to 1990). However, experts believe this goal may be unrealistic; while Poland did cut its emissions by 19 percent between 1990-2000, emissions rose again by 6 percent by 2013. While some see this as the Vatican pointing an accusatory finger at the Polish mining industry, others view it as just another attempt to bring attention to a global problem and encourage governments to enact the necessary reforms.