Poland’s coal miners: ‘EU climate proposals terrify us’

As Poland gears up to host this year’s UN climate summit, the government is on a charm offensive.

An old mine shaft in Katowice looms over
the glass buildings of the Silesian museum.

During two days in mid-September, brochures, videos, slides and dark-suited representatives succeed one another, portraying Katowice, the site of the talks, as a green success story. Chaperoned by civil servants, journalists are whizzed around the city in electric cars.

At its industrial peak in the 1980s, the capital of Upper Silesia counted 14 active coal mines. That figure has fallen to two, while museums, concert halls and sport facilities have mushroomed on former mining sites – not to mention the spaceship-like conference centre that will welcome up to 30,000 delegates in December.

Read the story by Natalie Sauer from Climate Home News - “Poland’s coal miners: ‘EU climate proposals terrify us’.”