Читать книгу Planificación regional: paisaje y patrimonio - José Castro Serrano - Страница 15

Based on the EU climate change adaptation strategy (European Commission 2019), as early as in 2013, Poland adopted a national adaptation policy, i.e. a strategic adaptation plan for sectors and areas vulnerable to climate change by 2020 with a perspective until 2030 (referred to as SAP 2020). Preparation of the SAP 2020 was preceded by the KLIMADA research program, which identified Poland’s needs in terms of adaptation to climate change. These included the potential financial losses associated with climate change if adaptation actions were not taken. These losses would be higher than in the past by several dozen percent in each successive decade, starting from 2001-2010 when they reached about 13.5 billion euros. They would amount to about 20 billion euros in 2011-2020 and about 30 billion euros in the next decade 2021-2030 (Ministry of Environment 2013).

In order to maintain coherence of climate change policy on the European, national, regional, and local level, the objectives and guidelines resulting from the SAP 2000 have been implemented in each region, including the Silesian Province. The Silesian Province is the most urbanized region of Poland and, at the same time, a transport hub of international importance. The region has a population of 4.5 million and an area of 12,333 square kilometers. The state of the environment in the province is very diverse. The center of the region (the Upper Silesian and Zagłębie Agglomeration) is made up of areas with a distinct industrial profile, a significant part of which is heavily degraded (e.g. post-mining areas). On the other hand, in the north and south of the region, there are very well preserved areas that are conducive to the development of tourism and recreation. There are numerous deposits of minerals, as well as thermal, mineral, and medicinal waters in the region. Surface water resources are small. Their quality additionally deteriorates as a result of soil contamination and discharge of wastewater directly into watercourses. Even now the region is very clearly affected by the consequences of climate change, which have an impact on many areas of socio-economic life, including the following:

- extreme meteorological and weather phenomena, e.g. hurricanes, floods, droughts, and heat waves (average temperature exceeding 25oC.) are increasing;

- the plant vegetation period has become more than 25 days longer since 1970;

- there are negative health changes (e.g. lung diseases), including an increase in the number of deaths (e.g. due to smog);

- work efficiency is decreasing (due to heat);

- demand for electricity is increasing (air-conditioning systems).

In the case of the Silesian Province, climate change is affected by at least two additional problems. The first is the economic profile of the region, i.e. coal-based economy (a large number of mines and a large number of industrial plants and other entities with demand for energy derived from coal). This leads to:

- increasing public protests against mine closures and the resulting loss of jobs;

- clearly noticeable effects of air pollution with particulate matter (cities in the Silesian Province, such as Bytom, Rybnik, Pszczyna, and Żywiec, top the list of the most polluted cities in the European Union);

- a growing problem of energy poverty, i.e. lack of financial resources to replace outdated heat sources in households with e.g. biomass boilers or heat pumps; and

- severe financial penalties imposed on companies that pollute the environment, which further worsen their financial situation.

The second problem is the so-called climate skepticism. Poland is poorly prepared to manage the effects of climate change. This applies to representatives of both central and local government administration, but also, to a much greater extent, to businesses and citizens. Although implementation of tasks related to environmental protection is the responsibility of all levels of administration, it is difficult to identify a common policy intended to combat climate change. They are supported in this process by only a few stakeholders from outside the administration. Only some citizens become involved in activities intended to combat the effects of climate change (e.g. building backyard water storage tanks, installing photovoltaic panels, and concluding prosumer contracts). The analyses performed by the Polish Ministry of Environment have led to the following recommendations concerning measures aimed at adaptation to climate change for the Silesian Province:

1. Protect the source areas of major rivers and increase water retention in both valleys and mountains;

2. Water supply for cities, industry, and agriculture under extreme conditions (floods and droughts, long periods of high temperatures);

3. Protection of urban and industrial infrastructure against sudden flooding and waterlogging, including development of rainwater drainage systems;

4. Protection of foothill and mountain areas from landslides and avalanches;

5. Preservation of existing and creation of new green and water areas in urban and post-industrial redevelopment processes to reduce temperature rise and improve air purity;

6. Preparation of new tourist offer for residents of tourist resorts and tourists in situation of reduced snow cover and limited access to water.

So far, there has been no single strategic document for the Silesian Province that would focus on the problem of climate change in the region. These issues are described in several documents. This is due, among other things, to the division of the tasks related to environmental protection between different levels of public administration: province-level regional government, district-level local government, and commune/municipality-level local government. On the regional level, climate change objectives are addressed in the documents described in Table 3.

Table 3. List of strategic documents.

No.	Year	Document name	Defined objectives
1	2013	Development Strategy of the Silesian Province ŚLĄSKIE 2020+	- Sustainable use of environmental resources- Integrated development of centers of different importance- Efficient use of space
2	2014	Waste management plan for the Silesian Province	- Municipal waste management- Management of waste from the industrial sector- Hazardous waste management- Management of waste from other sources
2	2015	Environmental Protection Program for the SilesianProvince until 2019 including the perspective until 2024	- Ambient air- Water resources- Waste managemen- Nature conservation- Conservation of natural resources- Soils
3	2016	Spatial Development Plan of the Silesian Province	- Protection of environmental resources and protected areas- Development of interregional cooperation in spatial planning
5	2020	Air protection program for zones in the Silesian Province	- Elimination of burning of waste and low-quality coal in domestic boilers and furnaces- Support for existing activities and investments in transport- Reduction of emissions from traffic sources

Source: prepared by the author.

The above strategic documents are defined in a rather general way. In order to ensure achievement of the expected results of measures related to counteracting climate change and fighting its effects, it is necessary to undertake actions that are strictly tailored to individual needs in such a diversified region as the Silesian Province. This means that documents prepared on the regional level are an insufficient instrument to support solution of similar problems in other regions, where regional adaptation plans do not provide sufficient guidance to their implementers, e.g. in cities.