A two-day Informal Meeting of Environment Ministers, which is organized once per EU presidency to discuss priorities on environmental policy, began Monday in the seaside resort of Sopot.

One such priority on the agenda was how to protect the planet’s resources. Polish Minister of the Environment Andrzej Kraszewski summed up the main message of Monday's meeting with the catchphrase “STOP to living on ecological credit,” according to a report by PAP.

He went on to say that “our planet’s resources are limited and we have to use them rationally,” emphasizing that this was a message shared by all the representatives of participating countries.

Poland has developed something of a poor reputation with regard to climate issues, in large part due to its opposition towards increasing the targeted reduction of CO2 emissions in the EU. However, today Mr Kraszewski made it clear that Poland would do its utmost to prepare the formal conclusion of the EU on how to enact efficient use of resources, by the Council of Environmental Ministers in October.

On Tuesday, the ministers are to discuss climate protection and Europe's preparation with regard to climate change. They will also focus on the position Europe will take at the upcoming global UN climate conference in Durban.

Tara Taylor