The Twenty-Fourth of February 2022 marked the beginning one of the greatest humanitarian crisis in Europe. Within the first six days of the war, the number of Ukrainian refugees exceeded 4 million, which is more than twice the total number of incomers who arrived in Europe during the Syrian migration throughout 2015. Most of them found themselves in Poland; thus, an urgent need for ad hoc humanitarian and systemic aid arose. To cope with the situation, a number of changes to the Polish law were introduced so as to provide help to the refugees (mainly women and children) from Ukraine. To systematise the changes, the authors of the study analysed the legal acts that had been created or amended for the purposes of providing aid to the refugees staying in Poland. The research study has shown that, in the first days following the war’s outbreak, the measures of key importance were the grassroot initiatives taken by Polish citizens, but as days went by, systemic aid became indispensable. Moreover, non-standard needs had to be handled due to the fact that the refugees were mainly women and children rather than entire families. In conclusion, the war in Ukraine has shown how important it is to have refugee aid procedures at hand and to have a detailed guidance prepared beforehand.

Measures taken to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy involved spending public funds in a different way than was planned in the budgets of public sector units. National and local governments around the world introduced measures to limit the spread of the virus, translating, among other things, into restrictions on the activities of economic entities. This situation has resulted, on the one hand, in a reduction of both tax and fee revenues and other public and legal charges not only to the state budget, but also to the various levels of territorial sector units, and, on the other hand, in increased spending by these institutions. It has become a common opinion that the pandemic has affected the financial condition of local government units, but there is a lack of analysis in the literature at the level of provinces, which are financed differently than the municipal level in Poland. This study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial condition of local government provinces in Poland as depicted by fundamental budget indicators. The analysis showed that based on indicators that, according to theory, should describe the financial situation of territorial sector units, in emergency situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, do not reflect the actual picture. Our considerations indicate that certain theoretical assumptions are not suitable for “difficult times”. If one were to base only on numbers and theory, one would be led to the erroneous conclusion that the pandemic did not financially affect territorial sector units at the regional (provincial) level. Działania podejmowane poprzez każdą jednostkę samorządu terytorialnego (JST) w celu minimalizowania wpływu pandemii COVID-19 na gospodarkę wiązały się z koniecznością wydatkowania środków publicznych w inny sposób niż było to zaplanowane w budżetach tych jednostek. Powszechna stała się opinia, że pandemia wpłynęła na kondycję finansową JST, brak jednak analiz na poziomie województw, które są finansowane inaczej niż gminy. Za cel pracy przyjęto ocenę wpływu pandemii COVID-19 na kondycję finansową województw samorządowych w Polsce obrazowaną przez podstawowe wskaźniki budżetowe. Analiza pokazała, że opieranie się na wskaźnikach, które według teorii powinny obrazować sytuację finansową JST, w sytuacjach nadzwyczajnych, jak pandemia COVID-19, nie oddaje faktycznego obrazu sytuacji.

The decentralization of local government and the introduction in Poland of its three-tier division has been linked to the assignment to municipalities, counties and provinces of the implementation of certain public tasks, performed as own or commissioned tasks. The literature of economic and legal sciences has been dealing with this issue for many years. The present monograph, which focuses on the economic and legal challenges faced by local government units in Poland during the implementation of public tasks, is also part of this research trend. The research intention undertaken by the authors was to analyze the main problems (socio-economic, financial, legal) that local government units currently face when carrying out public tasks. The study also takes into account the implications for local government units in this regard, related to emergency and unforeseen situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent economic crisis, or the war in Ukraine.

Green economy – theory, practice and challenges of the present day The aim of the book is to explain thoroughly the concept of the green economy, its fundamental principles, practical implementations and the main challenges and opportunities associated with its implementation. The first chapter presents the organizational and legal foundations of the green economy, the role and importance of the green economy against the background of sustainable development, international agreements and agreements, as well as national and regional policies for the green economy on the example of Polish. The second chapter analyzes green technologies and investments and their sources of financing, as well as the problem of renewable energy sources, low-carbon technologies, financial instruments and ESG investments. The considerations presented in the third chapter concerned a sustainable approach to the use and protection of natural resources, such as soil, water, biodiversity and marine ecosystems. The fourth chapter presents the challenges and future of the green economy, indicating strategies for global transformation and scenarios for the future. The monograph aims not only to provide knowledge about the theoretical foundations and practical applications of the green economy, but also to inspire readers to actively participate in the transformation process towards a more sustainable world. The publication, due to its interdisciplinary nature, is intended for many communities. First of all, for scientists interested in interdisciplinary issues related to the challenges of the green economy, policy makers, managers of the private and public sectors and students of basically all faculties.

As cities accelerate climate adaptation and decarbonisation, municipally owned companies (MOCs) play an important role in delivering sustainable urban infrastructure, accessing transition finance, and supporting Positive Energy Districts (PEDs). However, the expansion of sustainability reporting requirements under the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) raises questions about the preparedness of public infrastructure providers to meet evolving sustainability-information demands. This study examines ESG reporting readiness among Polish MOCs, focusing on current reporting activity, reporting intentions, regulatory awareness, indirect ESG information pressures, sustainable-finance and investment plans, and potential transition-risk exposure. The analysis is based on a Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing survey of 226 municipal enterprises conducted in August 2025. The results indicate substantial reporting gaps. Only 8% of surveyed MOCs had already prepared or planned to prepare a non-financial report. When companies planning EU Taxonomy reporting only were also included, 14% of the sample had some form of current or planned reporting, while the remaining 86% had neither current nor planned non-financial or EU Taxonomy reporting. Reporting readiness was lower among smaller companies, while indirect ESG information pressures arising from business relationships, stakeholder requests, and financing plans were also evident across the surveyed sample. The findings suggest that limited reporting preparedness, when combined with external sustainability-information demands, may contribute to potential transition-risk exposure relevant to municipal investment and financing processes. More broadly, ESG reporting readiness represents an organisational capability relevant to sustainable finance, municipal climate investment, and the development of PEDs and smart cities.

The study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial condition and mortality in Polish voivodeships. To achieve this objective, the relationship between the number of deaths before and during the pandemic and the financial condition of the provinces in Poland was studied. The study covered the years 2017–2020, for which a one-way ANOVA was used to verify whether there was a relationship between the level of a province’s financial condition and the number of deaths. The results of the study are surprising and show that before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a higher number of deaths in provinces that were better off financially, but the relationship was not statistically significant. In contrast, during the pandemic, a statistically significant strong negative correlation between these values was proven, which, in practice, shows that regions with better financial conditions had a higher number of deaths during COVID-19.