Warsaw to cut carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2020
PR dla Zagranicy
Alicja Baczyńska
11.12.2015 10:59
On Thursday, local authorities adopted a policy geared towards lowering the Polish capital's carbon footprint by a fifth over the next five years.
The Polish capital, Warsaw. Photo: Flickr.com/Giuseppe Milo
In an effort to improve air quality, the city council has committed to further invest in public transport, sustainable energy sources, and expand the city's central heating grid.
Warsaw is to purchase new low-emission buses, expand the city's tram network, and shift transit traffic outside the city center.
Some 5,000 buildings in the east bank Praga district are to be linked to the central heating system so as to curb emissions from coal-powered household furnaces, deputy mayor Michał Olszewski announced.
A new comprehensive system for tracking air quality, the Warsaw Air Index, is to be set up. The city has also drawn up an action plan should polluti levels exceed norms over several days. These include free public transport, and washing away toxic particle sediment from streets by the municipal cleaning services.
The city councillors backed plans to set up a department in charge of environment protection in the municipal police. Among its tasks will be to make sure cheap coal or trash is not used to heat households. The department, taking in some 120 officers, is to start operating as of January 2016. (aba/rk)
Source: PAP