- Michał Kurtyka comes from Krakow, but he was educated at the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw
- From 2016, he held various positions in several governments of the United Right. He was associated with the Ministry of Energy for the longest time
- Kurtyka is one of those ministers who fell ill with COVID-19
- More similar information can be found on the Onet.pl homepage
Who is Michał Kurtyka?
Michał Kurtyka was born on July 20, 1973 in Krakow. In 2012, he obtained a PhD in economics at the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw. Previously, he was employed there as a researcher. He also cooperated with Jan Kułakowski during the accession negotiations conducted by the Polish government with the institutions of the European Union.
Since 2016, he has been associated with the government of the United Right, initially as the Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Energy in the government of Beata Szydło. Two years later he became the secretary of state in this ministry and the plenipotentiary for the COP24 presidency (organ of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). He was also responsible for the preparation of the UN climate summit in Poland in December 2018, being the secretary of state at the Ministry of the Environment.
He was also responsible for supervising the state’s participation in the largest Polish energy companies in the oil and gas sector, such as Orlen, Lotos and PGNiG. He was the originator of the “Electromobility Development Plan”, and then he piloted the creation of the act on electromobility and alternative fuels, thanks to which these forms of transport will be able to develop dynamically.
In November 2019, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki appointed Michał Kurtyka as a candidate for the minister of climate. Now he is to become the head of the ministry of the environment, led so far by Michał Woś from Solidarna Polska.
– Responsibility for the development of renewable energy sources will rest with the Ministry of Climate. One of the elements we will manage, for example, will be the development of offshore wind energy – Michał Kurtyka emphasized after his nomination.
The minister was ill with COVID-19
Michał Kurtyka is one of the ministers of Mateusz Morawiecki’s government who fell ill with COVID-19. As he himself stated, he passed it gently.
“My second coronavirus test was unfortunately positive. I feel good. I am in home isolation with my family,” he informed on Twitter in August.
A Green Deal for Europe
Kurtyka was also responsible for introducing the Green Deal for Europe in Poland – a program of global financial, fiscal and energy reforms and massive investment aimed at boosting the global economy and making it independent of non-renewable raw materials, as well as combating climate change and creating millions of new jobs. As he himself admitted, its implementation was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
– The priority for today is the fight against the coronavirus, the health and life of people, ensuring the continuity of energy supplies, as well as the continuity of key investments, both in the area of energy security and those transforming the sector – explained Kurtyka in April this year.
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