January 15 this year the Sejm received a deputy’s bill to amend the act on government administration departments and some other acts (Sejm print no. 158), which will be considered in plenary.
As previously anticipated, the Minister of Climate will take over the competences of the “energy” department, and after the entry into force of the amended Act on departments, regulations regarding energy, including renewable energy, will be under the supervision of this department.
The “climate” section will cover:
matters of climate and sustainable development, in particular in the field of:
1) participation in shaping climate policy, including within the European Union, in particular in negotiations on international policy in the field of climate and sustainable development;
2) implementation European Union climate policy, including the management of funds for the purposes of ecological and climate transformation, in particular the management of auctions of greenhouse gas emission allowances and management of the funds obtained as a result thereof, taking into account the country’s energy security, including security of energy supplies, energy raw materials and fuels,
3) protection and shaping of the environment and rational use of its resources, subject to art. 28;
4) ecological living conditions resulting from air protection, protection of the earth’s surface, protection against noise and protection against electromagnetic fields;
5) monitoring compliance with environmental protection requirements and examining the state of the environment;
6) a system for managing greenhouse gas emissions and other substances, and trading in allowances for greenhouse gas emissions;
7) circular and waste management;
8) innovation, industry development and export promotion, in the field of climate, ecology, and sustainable development, including climate and energy transformation activities;
9) management and coordination programs for the dissemination, development and promotion of the use of low-carbon and zero-emission technologies, in particular in the field of renewable energy sources and transport;
10) socio-economic aspects of ecological and climate transformation;
11) energy efficiency;
12) development and the use of renewable energy sources, in particular distributed and prosumer energy, as well as offshore wind energy;
13) ecological education and promotion of ecological living conditions – within the scope of tasks belonging to the department.
2. The minister competent for climate supervises the President of the National Atomic Energy Agency, the Chief Inspector for Environmental Protection, the Institute of Environmental Protection – National Research Institute, the Institute of Ecology of Industrial Areas, as well as the activities of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and voivodeship funds for environmental protection and water management .