Poland plans to prioritise curbing its reliance on Russian energy — and so continuing its dependence on coal — over signing up to the EU’s net zero emissions target, in a move that is set to put Warsaw on a collision course with Brussels over climate policy, according to Financial Times.

Piotr Naimski, Poland’s chief strategic energy adviser, told the Financial Times that it was “not possible and not feasible” for Poland to meet the EU goal of cutting net carbon emissions to zero by 2050. Instead, he said, coal would still generate up to half the country’s electricity in two decades’ time. “Responsibilities for the planned EU target should be shared among EU states, taking into consideration every country’s situation and possibilities,” he said.

“The cost of this idea rises to hundreds of billions of dollars. Politicians trying to proceed with such a process, they are not living on the ground.”

Naimski’s comments come as the EU is pushing its members to adopt an ambitious goal for carbon neutrality by 2050 and cast doubt on hopes that all EU states will sign up to the target by December’s Cop25 climate summit in Chile.