European Union co-funded investments in low-emission and green energy in urban public transport in Poland

The objective of the study is to assess the level and regional diversity of low-carbon investments and in renewable energy sources in urban public transport in Poland co-funded by the European Union within the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014–2020. In Poland city transport is responsible for ¼ of greenhouse gas emissions and over 1/3 of electricity consumption. For this reason results of this study fill the research gap concerning implementation of EU co-funded investments of local urban governments in low-emission and renewable energy sources in public transport, as well as conditions determining such an activity. Results of this study are of importance also for the execution of future programmes in the development of low-emission economy and renewable energy sources, in Poland comprised in the National Reconstruction Plan, referred as the recovery and resilience plan within the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility. These analyses are highly topical, since the cost eligibility period concluded in 2023. A total of 778 projects aimed at the broadly understood development of green transport, with a total value of EURO 7.4 billion, have been implemented across Poland by local governments and their subordinate units. They accounted for less than a tenth of the total number of projects in Poland in the field of low-carbon economy development, but in terms of value, they accounted for as much as nearly a half of the total value. Cities, especially those in the Mazowieckie and Śląskie provinces, are the biggest beneficiaries of EU funding for the development of green public transport.