Green Policies, Regulations & Standards

Poland’s onshore wind policy has been strongly constrained by distance rules between turbines and residential buildings, historically associated with the “10H rule”. Changes to minimum setback distances materially affect land availability, project pipelines, and permitting viability, and have remained politically contested. Oversight reporting warns that stricter distance outcomes can sharply reduce developable capacity, while reform efforts have faced political blockages, including a reported presidential veto in 2025. For developers and investors, the primary compliance risk is not technical performance but siting eligibility: a project can fail purely due to distance rule constraints or policy volatility.

Poland’s Nuclear Power Programme (PPEJ) is a strategic government document updated and adopted in October 2020. It defines the pathway and tasks required to develop nuclear power, including preparation for Poland’s first nuclear plant. PPEJ is not a direct compliance law for companies, but it drives binding obligations through project-level nuclear licensing, safety requirements, and environmental permitting. The main regulatory risk is procedural: nuclear projects cannot be “policy-fast-tracked” around safety case development, environmental assessment, and licensing evidence.

Poland’s offshore wind framework, in force since 2021, is a central policy lever for accelerating large-scale renewable generation in the Baltic Sea. It combines support mechanisms and regulatory pathways for project development and is being updated through legislative amendments, including a government-reported Sejm adoption in October 2025 aimed at facilitating offshore deployment. While not a single “one-size-fits-all” obligation for companies, it creates binding requirements for participating developers through permitting, grid connection, and support eligibility conditions and shapes investment signals for ports, supply chains, and industrial policy.

Poland’s Water Law Act (20 July 2017) regulates water abstraction, discharges, and other “water services” through a permit-based regime combined with water services fees. Operators must obtain the relevant water permit before regulated use begins, comply continuously with permit conditions, and maintain documentation supporting volumes and fee calculations. The framework is fully in force and updated over time through fee-related regulations. Non-compliance typically involves unpermitted abstraction/discharge, exceeding authorised conditions, or weak metering and records, and can trigger heightened financial exposure and enforcement action, including increased-fee mechanisms and orders to stop unlawful water services.

Poland’s Electromobility and Alternative Fuels Act (2018, as amended) provides the core legal framework for EV deployment and alternative fuels infrastructure. It shapes responsibilities for charging infrastructure, supports market development mechanisms, and enables procedural pathways for charger installations, including in complex building contexts. Compliance issues most often arise from procedural failures, weak documentation, or mismatches between infrastructure commitments and delivery. As EU transport decarbonisation pressures increase, this Act functions as a primary enabling instrument for Poland’s charging rollout.

PEP2030 is Poland’s national environmental and water management strategy through 2030. It sets the policy direction for ecological safety, environmental quality, and priority interventions, influencing how public investment and enforcement focus evolve. Although not a binding legal instrument for companies, it shapes real-world compliance through funding conditionality, permitting priorities and downstream regulations, particularly in water, air, waste and environmental protection programmes.

Switzerland’s Public Procurement Act embeds sustainability into public spending by requiring procurement to be economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable. This supports environmental and social award criteria, life-cycle costing, and more stringent supplier requirements. Compliance risk arises for authorities if criteria are not transparent and consistently applied, and for suppliers if they cannot evidence sustainability claims or meet sustainability-linked performance clauses. For companies selling to public buyers, procurement law becomes a major sustainability compliance gateway, not just a commercial process.

The Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026 establish a legal framework for recording controlled waste movements through a digital waste tracking system in England. The regulations are currently in draft form and were laid before Parliament under the draft affirmative procedure, with a planned commencement date of 1 October 2026. The first phase applies mainly to operators of permitted facilities that receive controlled waste. It requires them to record specified information for each waste load, check that the record has entered the digital system, and pay the annual system fee. The policy is intended to improve waste traceability, support regulators, and reduce waste crime.

The GSCC Steel Climate Standard is a voluntary global framework for measuring, verifying, and certifying greenhouse gas emissions associated with steel production. Developed by the Global Steel Climate Council, it combines product-level certification for lower-emission steel with company-level science-based emissions target requirements. The standard is technology-neutral, meaning it applies across production routes rather than creating separate benchmarks for different steelmaking methods. It uses carbon dioxide equivalent intensity metrics, third-party verification, and a decarbonization glidepath aligned with a 1.5°C scenario by 2050. Its purpose is to help steel producers substantiate emissions claims and help customers compare the carbon intensity of steel products.

LESS Certification is a voluntary third-party verification system for steel producers seeking to classify and label low-emission steel products under the Low Emission Steel Standard. The certification system verifies whether a producer’s steel production processes and product groups meet the LESS methodology for emissions intensity, scrap share, and label use. A certificate is issued after a successful audit by an approved certification body, allowing certified producers to use the LESS label for the verified product groups and classifications. The certification is intended to support transparent comparison of low-emission and near-zero steel in procurement, customer reporting, and emerging green lead markets.