In Ukraine, carbon emissions increased by 23% in 2022, compared to 2021, and about 33 million tons of CO2 entered the atmosphere due to the military aggression of the Russian Federation.
The biggest sources of emissions were fires, hostilities and internally displaced persons, reported Deputy of the Kyiv City Council of the 8th convocation Kostyantyn Yalovy on his Facebook page.
He emphasized that in 2021 the largest source of emissions was called industrial enterprises and outdated vehicles, and in 2022 – war.
According to the research presented in the Ukrainian Pavilion at the Climatychnos Samii SOR27, the largest sources of emissions during martial law were:
- fires – 23.8 million tons of CO2;
- combat operations - 8.9 million tons of CO2;
- movement of internally displaced persons and refugees – 1.4 million tons of CO2.
Yalovy emphasized that Ukraine's green energy sector also suffered significant damage, as 85% of wind and 50% of solar power plants were destroyed.
"There is a large-scale reconstruction ahead. The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources is already working on the future integration of climate goals into all sectors of state activity. The main goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change," he said.
Yalovy also emphasized that Ukraine has a unique chance to create a new infrastructure and industry that will be as energy efficient and environmentally safe as possible.
"We can create from scratch objects that will solve the issue of useful disposal of garbage and waste from the food industry. Instead of giant landfills, plants that will produce biofuel should be built. Instead of extracting fossil fuels, we should get a stable system of renewable energy sources and modernize nuclear plants, he wrote. – The whole civilized world is ready to support the quality recovery of our country. After all, without the decarbonization of Ukraine, as the largest country in Europe, there will be no carbon neutrality of the continent."
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi during his speech at COP27 said that there can be no effective climate policy without peace, after all, nations seek to protect themselves from existing threats created, in particular, by the aggression of the Russian Federation.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, Svitlana Grynchuk, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine for European Integration, said that Russia's war against Ukraine accelerates climate change and causes an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
