MK
Michał Kurtyka
COP24
President, COP24
Description
Michał Kurtyka was appointed in November 2019 as the first-ever Minister of the newly created Ministry of Climate. In October 2020, his portfolio expanded after the cabinet reshuffle resulted in the creation of Ministry of Climate and Environment. Kurtyka is recognized as the architect of the Polish energy sector transformation. After the introduction of the Polish 2040 Energy Policy, he oversaw its design, implementation, and financing, resulting in launching landmark public policy initiatives such as “Household Water Retention Scheme”, “Green Public Transportation”, “Electric Cars Adoption Scheme”, or “The City of Tomorrow”.Under his leadership, Poland recorded historic growth in renewable energy generation. Kurtyka successfully incentivized the adoption of individual photovoltaic panels, expanding its capacity to over 10,000 megawatts as over one million individual households contributed. He successfully initiated industrial alliances for hydrogen, photovoltaics, and biogas, while also establishing a comprehensive framework for offshore wind development. Kurtyka is also credited with Poland’s electromobility and industry transformation strategy. He co-authored, New Electricity and New Cars (2013–2015), the first publication to outline his vision. He later developed The Electromobility Development Plan and guided the creation of the Act on Electromobility and Alternative Fuels, laying the legal foundation for the dynamic growth of clean transport in Poland. Within just few years, Poland became the second largest EV batteries manufacturer globally, second only to China.Internationally, he is most know for his consensus-building abilities. In April 2018, he became the Government Plenipotentiary for Poland’s Presidency of COP24 - the United Nations Climate Summit. Serving as COP24 President, he spearheaded negotiations that delivered the Katowice Rulebook, enabling the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement. Three major political declarations also gained broad international support under his leadership: on Solidarity and Just Transition, Electromobility, and Forest Protection.Kurtyka has also held senior roles in leading international organizations. As Chair of the International Energy Agency’s Ministerial Meeting in 2019, he oversaw the adoption of the first unanimous IEA Ministerial Communiqué in a decade. In 2021, he chaired the 42nd session of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome and co-chaired, alongside the U.S. Secretary of Energy, the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy and Climate Cooperation in Warsaw.A graduate of the prestigious École Polytechnique in Paris, Kurtyka was also a research fellow in quantum optics at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, where he worked under Nobel Prize laureate William D. Phillips. His academic interests included studies in economics, with a focus on industrial and market organization, under Nobel laureate Jean Tirole, and international economics at the Université Catholique de Louvain. He earned his master’s degree at the Warsaw School of Economics and later completed his PhD at the University of Warsaw. He lectured on change management, economics, and industrial strategy at the University of Warsaw, Collegium Civitas, and the Oxford Programme on Modern Poland. He is co-author of Change Management: From Strategy to Action and author of From Restructuring to Modernisation: Delayed Transformation of the Polish Power Sector, 1990–2009.Previous to becoming the Minister of Climate, Kurtyka served as Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Energy. In his capacity, he was responsible for technological innovation, climante and energy policy in the fuel and gas sectors, oversaw state holdings in Poland’s largest energy companies, including Orlen, Lotos, and PGNiG and led the country’s international energy relations. His professional career began in the Office of the Committee for European Integration, where he led the analytical team during Poland’s accession negotiations with the European Union, focusing on energy and transport. Later, he supported the modernization of numerous Polish companies, helping them adapt to European and global market challenges. He also promoted European cooperation on industrial change through organizations such as the European University of Labour and the Dublin Foundation. With a strong passion for science and innovation, Kurtyka has also helped establish a number of start-ups advancing cleaner and more efficient energy systems.
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