Poland set to host 2013 UN climate summit

DOHA - Poland, a EU member criticized for its climate policy, is set to host the 2013 UN climate summit, according to statements circulated Wednesday at the ongoing climate talks in Doha, Qatar.

Without a contender, Poland became the selected host of the next UN climate talks on Wednesday right after it officially presented its offer at a plenary session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

"Poland is a good place to go," said the head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat Christiana Figueres. "Here also in Qatar and in Poland what this conference does is bring the world's attention to the host country and encourage that country to actually step up to the plate and do more."

Meanwhile, the choice of host has provoked criticism from environmental campaigners.

"A host country should be firmly committed to climate protection and be able to negotiate compromises and seal deals, but Poland has a bad track record on both counts," said Jiri Jerabek, an expert with Greenpeace.

Prior to the Doha conference, Poland had given other European Union members a hard time during meetings to coordinate their positions on the use of spare Kyoto pollution permits.

Warsaw has also been preventing the EU from raising its emissions-reduction target to 30 percent out of the concerns that a high target would hurt its carbon-intensive economy, Anja Kollmuss with Carbon Market Watch said on Wednesday.

According to media reports, Poland's Environment Minister Marcin Korolec will contend for the presidency of the annual climate summit, which was previously held in Denmark, Mexico and South Africa.