Agnieszka Tomaszewska

Solidarity means responsibility for other people

Recent weeks have abounded with events related to counteracting climate change in which we have had our share. Because of all the preparations, I have not been able to write about them earlier, which I hope, you will forgive me. Here are some of the events.

On 5 November, at the Embassy conference centre, about 80 people gathered to find out more about a publication of the Foundation for the Development of Polish Agriculture (FDPA) “Renewable energy sources and measures for adapting to climate change in agriculture and in rural areas – examples of EU experience”. Apart from the speeches of the Ambassador and the President of the Foundation, we had an opportunity to listen to a discussion of ten experts – the authors of the publication. The discussion was facilitated by the Editor-in-Chief of the „Czysta Energia” [Clean Energy] monthly. The experts agreed that climate change was taking place. They also gave some specific examples of changes in nature which were a consequence of climate change. An amusing but at the same time a bitter example was given by Anna Grzybek, PhD, the book’s scientific editor. She talked about the extinction of male aphids. I suppose that a lot of us immediately thought about a very popular Polish comedy film, “Sex Mission”, presenting a world without men. 

One of the chapters of the FDPA publication has been devoted to renewable energy in the United Kingdom. I would like to use this opportunity and thank our colleagues from DECC and FCO for their assistance in collecting the materials. Those who are interested in the contents of the publication should check the following link.

On Monday, 9 November, together with my colleague from the Press & Communications section we accompanied the Ambassador to the Palace of Science and Culture in Warsaw to participate in the final stage of another, spring-summer edition of the social campaign run by the Centre for Citizenship Education (CEO) “Active by nature. Climate change – be a solution” . On this occasion, teams representing twenty schools from all over the country came to Warsaw. For the event, young people had prepared special stands presenting the projects implemented in their area, took part in workshops given by experts and had an opportunity to meet their peers from other regions. It was a  truly unusual event and very spectacular too, with prospects for developing to a larger scale in future. In his address, Mr. Krzysztof Stanowski, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education highlighted the importance of projects promoting protection of climate  implemented by young people. He said something that particularly appealed to me: “Solidarity means responsibility for other people”.

On the occasion of the CEO event, the Ambassador has been interviewed by Polish Radio. In the interview he has talked about the work of our Climate and Energy Unit, and cooperation with Polish government and organisations involved in projects promoting low carbon economy. The Ambassador has also mentioned the example of a British campaign “Act on CO2”, which, similarly to the CEO project, is addressed to the public, including young people of school age. 

Thanks to the Press & Communications section of the Embassy, a short video of the event in the Palace of Science and Culture will soon be ready. We will place it on our website, which I strongly encourage you to visit regularly.

Posted at 14:35 19 November 2009 by Agnieszka Tomaszewska  |  Comments[0]

Time to celebrate

That was a good day. DemosEuropa project application“Carbon Capture and Storage as a preferred technology for mainstreaming the clean use of coal in Poland” was approved by the Programme Fund Strategic Team. We met to celebrate our success.

The project will be launched in the coming weeks and will last until April 2011. As part of the project, DemosEuropa is planning to prepare three reports. The first will deal with regulatory and legislative issues, the second will assess the impact of CCS implementation in Poland. The third report will focus on the cooperation between business community and R&D centres. 

But the project is not just about the reports. It will also include a number of study visits, consultation and experience sharing between Polish and British partners. You will soon be able to read about the project details on the DemosEuropa website. Congratulations to the DemosEuropa team, I look forward to contining our cooperation.

Posted at 16:36 12 May 2009 by Agnieszka Tomaszewska  |  Comments[0]