Climate and energy (10 a.m.)
What the transition will bring. Europe’s pace of moving away from fossil fuels is gaining momentum. The energy transition benefits from the fact that wind and solar energy are becoming cheaper and social awareness of the effects of climate change is growing. Politicians do not want to talk about coal anymore, business is trying to limit its impact on the environment, and a growing group of consumers produce electricity at home. Also, we already understand the economic mechanisms of energy transition. But what social and political consequences can we expect? And are the states that have built their power on fuel exports facing an imminent collapse?
Timmermans on whether the transition can be peaceful. Frans Timmermans is a Dutch politician and VicePresident of the EurCom. He is responsible for implementing the European Green Deal, the world’s most ambitious climate strategy, a plan to achieve zero emissions in the EU by 2050. PI analysts Robert Tomaszewski and Dominik Brodacki will ask him how the transition may affect democracy and whether member states will be able to control the process. Alongside Frans Timmermans they will consider whether the growing threat of energy poverty will re-ignite populism, and the EU commissioner will talk about the geopolitical consequences of decarbonisation and its impact on countries that rely on fossil fuel exports such as Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Wildberger on the future of energy and business responsibility for transition. Karsten Wildberger has been a management board member of E.ON, one of the largest German energy companies since 2016m where he is responsible for, among others, energy markets, digital transformation and marketing. Previously, he had worked at BCG as well as at telecommunications companies (T-Mobile and Vodafone). Karsten Wildberger holds a doctorate in theoretical physics. At Risks and Trends, Robert Tomaszewski will ask him about the future shape of the energy market, as well as how the transition and the growing number of prosumers might change the role of large energy groups. Wildberger will talk about the responsibility of the old energy sector for the costs of decarbonisation since that sector has profited from fossil fuels for years.
Kasprzak, Messerszmidt and Zygmunt on whether the transition can be fair. In the last meeting to discuss energy, Małgorzata Kasprzak, an Ember think tank analyst, Alicja Messerszmidt, the president of the Inter-Enterprise Trade Union of Engineers and Technical Employees "Kadra" at the Konin Brown Coal Mine and Izabela Zygmunt, aclimate expert at the Polish Green Network, will talk about whether the energy transition with with “a human face" is possible. Kasprzak will talk about how the more ambitious EU climate goals will translate into energy prices, Messerszmidt will reveal how the employees at Zespół Elektrowni Pątnów-Adamów-Konin look at the transition, and Zygmunt will consider whether an effort to decarbonise and avoid social exclusion is possible.
Health (3:00 p.m.)
How to recover from COVID-19. The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted a number of neglect and structural problems in the Polish health care system: staff shortages, underinvestment in facilities and difficulties in accessing patients to health services. Tens of thousands of excess deaths in 2020 fuelsed the discussion about the changes needed for the system to better cope with similar shocks in the future. What is the optimal organization of the health care system? Does central management give better results than decentralised? What improvements and reforms can be introduced this year, and what needs at least one term of office?
Niedzielski on plans for the rest of his term. Adam Niedzielski has been the head of MinHealth since August 2020, and he assumed that office after nearly two years of managing the NFZ; is the first health minister in many terms with no medical background. Talking to Piotr Żakowiecki, PI’s senior health analyst, Niedzielski will present his vision of a rational health care system and the initiatives his ministry is working on. The minister will reveal, among other things, how he views the so-called pyramid of benefits, why there is no alternative to central hospital management and what changes in the funding of the system may be expected before the next parliamentary elections.
Experts on the conditions for the success of health reforms. At Risks and Trends, Żakowiecki will host a discussion panel. His guests will include by Maria Libura (Collegium Medicum, University of Warmia and Mazury), Robert Mołdach (Institute of Health and Democracy) and Łukasz Jankowski (District Medical Council in Warsaw). The topics will focus on key aspects of health policy, including proper identification of goals, reliable consultation with the interested parties and good communication between decision-makers and participants in the health care system. Experts will indicate what lessons can be learned from the pandemic and which areas require the most attention, and will assess the chances of implementing the necessary reforms by 2023 and 2030.
