By Gerard Wynn and Alister Doyle
POZNAN, Poland (Reuters) - Poland will insist on a better deal for Eastern Europe under climate and energy plans meant to be agreed at a European Union summit next week, Environment Minister Maciej Nowicki told Reuters on Friday.
Poland has threatened to veto EU plans to slash EU greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent by 2020 unless its power plants get more time to prepare for carbon caps.
The country gets more than 90 percent of its electricity from high-carbon coal.
Recent French proposals include allowing East European power generators to operate until 2016 before they have to pay for every ton of carbon emissions, an extra three years compared with their Western counterparts.
"This is one step in the right direction, but not enough, because you see this is only for three years. This is not enough time," Nowicki said on the sidelines of December 1-12 U.N. climate talks, which Poland is hosting in the western city of Poznan.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, holder of the rotating EU presidency, will meet leaders of Eastern European nations in Gdansk, Poland, on Saturday to try to agree the package before the December 11-12 EU summit in Brussels.
"It's hard to say what will be the outcome of the European summit," Nowicki said, adding Poland would continue to negotiate for a fairer deal for Eastern Europe even if that meant no deal at the summit.
"Even if the summit in Brussels doesn't take a decision, we (will) negotiate that the best way for achievement of this goal, minus 20 percent, should be fair for all member countries," he said.
COAL
Nowicki argued that Poland's coal-dependent system needed until 2020 to curb carbon emissions, for example by using more efficient boilers, carbon-scrubbing equipment and the possibility of building a first nuclear plant.
"Our energy system is outdated, must be renovated," he said. That would take many years, he said.
While seeking EU concessions, Nowicki as host of the U.N. talks is trying to push delegations from 187 nations toward stiffer targets to fight warming under a new pact due to be agreed at the end of 2009 in Copenhagen.
He said he hoped the U.N. meeting of 11,000 delegates would end with a package of declarations about a need to shift to renewable energies despite the global financial crisis.
"In my opinion there are benefits and negative sides to the financial crisis. It's not only negative," he said. Now was a good time to shift to save energy, water and raw materials and to cut costs while fighting climate change, he said. Nowicki welcomed the election of Barack Obama as U.S. president. Obama has said he will cut U.S. emissions, now about 14 percent above 1990 levels, back to 1990 levels by 2020 and then cut by a further 80 percent by 2050.
"We're extremely happy for the changing of the position of the USA," Nowicki said. "This is very promising," he said.
He said he hoped for agreement in Poznan on the launch of a fund to help poor nations to adapt to the impact of global warming such as drought, disease and rising seas.
The fund "should function next year, not after Copenhagen," he said.
(Editing by James Jukwey)
