Poland is the biggest beneficiary of EU funds under the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), receiving up to around €80 billion from the Cohesion Policy budget. Only 2.8% of this funding is dedicated to energy efficiency in buildings. At the same time, low energy performance of existing buildings (especially single-family houses) and use of old coal fired boilers causes significant air pollution. Poland has some of the worst air quality in Europe, with 33 of the continent’s 50 most polluted cities, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report.  In order to address the air quality problem and reduce energy consumption, the available funds should be shifted towards demand-side infrastructure, notably the renovation of single-family houses.  Furthermore, there needs to be better utilisation of funding that achieves higher leverage of third party resources so that a larger share of the building stock can be renovated.

Such an approach would increase the energy performance of the Polish building stock and by doing so, improve comfort and health levels, create local and regional economic opportunities, alleviate energy poverty and significantly reduce the emission of harmful pollutants.

The report concludes listing a series of reasons why the impact of available funds on building renovation investments is limited and suggests potential measures to overcome this lack of investments in energy efficiency of buildings.