Polish Presidency refuses the Fossil?

02 December 2011

The Polish presidency were not best pleased with being given the dreaded “Fossil of the Day” award for supporting the European Coal Days in Brussels.

They have responded by delivering a letter to CAN International stating that its logo was used without their government’s permission and that they have asked the conference organisers to make it clear that Poland is not associated with the event.

Poland has now ‘disassociated’ itself from the “Fossil”.

CAN’s decision to grant the fossil to Poland was based on a quote from Renata Bancarzewska, the spokesperson for the Polish Permanent Representation to the EU, who confirmed that its patronage had been offered to the conference organisers. The quote was published in a Euractiv article “Polish EU presidency in row over coal conference”.

So far there has been no satisfactory explanation for why different parts of the Polish representation seem to have conflicting opinions on whether or not the Presidency's logo was authorised for use at this conference. However, if the logo was used without permission, then the conference organisers should be apologising for this embarrassing situation.

We are relieved to hear the good news that the Polish EU Presidency is keen to distance itself from the “European Coal Days” and the dirty fossil fuel associated with it. We will be watching to see if they now push for a global and legally binding climate treaty at Durban.

Fossils, once given, are non-retractable, despite the request from the Polish government for CAN to do so. However, we would like to encourage Poland and other countries involved in the international climate negotiations to try to win a “Ray of the Day” award, which is given for acts that substantially advance progress in the global climate talks.