Polish coal miners protest EU's anti-methane regulations in Warsaw
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The miners demonstrate against regulations proposed by the European Commission to target the industry that is a major source of income to many settlements hosting coal mines.
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Workers from Poland's coal mining and energy sectors protest, in Warsaw, Poland, against the gradual phasing out of coal use and against a European Union court order to immediately close down a mine on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. (AFP)
Hundreds of Polish miners protested in Warsaw the EU's methane emission regulations on Friday, calling on the union to back down on decisions that are destroying the mining industry, Polish media reported.
Wearing shirts printed on them the names of the cities where coal mines represent the main source of income to its residents, Demonstrators gathered in front of the office of the European Commission chanting "We must stop the death of the mining industry and Silesia!".
"I am afraid that the European Union will make it so that we will lose our own industry and we will be dependent on the industry of other countries, we cannot understand this," one of the miners said.
Environmental experts argue that Poland emits the most methane in the European Union, which is linked to a large volume of coal mining.
According to experts, Poland is responsible for the highest methane emissions in the EU, which is said to be linked to mass coal mining. Every thousand tons of mined coal in the European country emits over nine tons of methane, environmental experts claim.
In December 2022, the commission proposed new regulations that force mines by 2027 not to emit more than five tons of methane per thousand tons of coal produced, adding that the limit will be reduced to three tons of methane by 2031.
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