President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi during his speech at COP27 said that there can be no effective climate policy without peace, because nations seek to protect themselves from existing threats created, in particular, by the aggression of the Russian Federation.
Dozens of countries are forced to switch back to coal-fired generation to lower energy prices, the website of President of Ukraine reports.
"The world is on the edge. And behind this border – destructive changes that will forever change the usual life on all continents, said Zelenskyi. – No one will be able to stay away."
He emphasized that the poorer the person and the country, the more painful the consequences of climate change will be. However, this also applies to all wealthy nations, because climate destruction cannot be redeemed.
Zelensky emphasized that there are still politicians and representatives of big business who do not take the climate agenda seriously. This is how Russia unleashed a full-scale war at a time when the planet cannot afford a single shot, because it needs global joint actions.
He noted that the war brought an energy crisis, due to which dozens of countries are forced to return to coal-fired power generation. In addition, it has brought an acute food crisis, which has had the greatest impact on those countries most affected by climate change.
"The Russian war destroyed 2 million hectares of forest in Ukraine in less than six months. Far from every country in the world has such an area of forests that was burned in Ukraine by Russian shelling," the President of Ukraine emphasized.
Zelenskyi noted that Russian nuclear terrorism at the Zaporizhia NPP threatens the environment and residents of parts of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.
"We must firmly stop those who, with their crazy and illegal war, are destroying the world's opportunity to work in unity for a common goal," he said.
The President also offered all COP27 participants to support the initiative to create a global platform for assessing the damage caused to the climate and the environment as a result of military actions.
"We must ensure that disasters and suffering do not multiply due to the fact that the world does not have time to respond to climate challenges. But to do this, we need joint effective actions. And for them to be, we need peace," Zelenskyi stressed.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that Ukrainian delegation at the UN Climate Summit COP27 prevented Russia's next attempt at a hybrid legalization of illegal annexation and occupation of Ukrainian territory.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, the Secretary General of the UN Assembly Antonio Guterres said at the opening of COP27 that the war in Ukraine revealed serious the risks of global dependence on fossil fuels.