COP24: Coal-dependent Poland refrains from adopting clean energy

It is evident that for coal-dependent nations like Poland, transition to clean energy is long way off.

The 13-day 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or COP24, is nearing closure in Katowice, Poland. And towards the end of it, the energy scenario in the host nation is in focus.

The smoke of domestic coal fires – burning to keep the winter chill at bay – is a common scene across Poland, which is dependent on coal-fired power stations that provide 80 percent of the nation’s electricity.

Companies and governments around the world are aiming to be carbon-free by 2050 to help keep climate change in check. But President Andrzej Duda says he will not let others kill the Polish coal industry.

Al Jazeera’s Nick Clark reports from Katowice.