The European Union is ready to provide Ukraine with the necessary support for strengthening legislative requirements in the field of climate and the environment on the way to joining the EU, transitioning to a green economy, entering new markets and improving security.
About it in the interview Interfax-Ukraine said Frans Timmermans, Vice President of the European Commission on climate issues, noting that the price of inaction will be much higher.
Timmermans noted that in the energy sector, Ukraine has already made significant progress in organizing its electricity and gas markets. Unbundling and certification of operators of gas transportation networks, power transmission networks, as well as the structure of the electricity and gas market based on EU rules were introduced in the markets. This made it possible to join Ukraine to the EU energy grid.
"I see a great potential for deepening energy cooperation between Ukraine and the EU, especially with regard to renewable gases, in particular hydrogen and biomethane," said Timmermans, noting that Ukraine has huge areas of land on which renewable energy installations can be built.
He emphasized that one of the advantages of renewable energy is much greater decentralization of the energy system, which is important in view of the threat of Russian strikes.
In his opinion, the deepened cooperation between Ukraine and the EU also causes more confidence on the part of investors who seek regulatory clarity and want to know the future direction of the country.
Timmermans is said to have expressed confidence that the government's strong commitment to the Green Deal and Ukraine's huge potential for renewable energy production, along with recovery efforts, will help make the country an attractive green economy.
Regarding separate rules for Ukraine in the new EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), he explained that the carbon duty focuses on products, not countries. CBAM will be phased in over the next few years, and during the initial, transitional phase, importers of CBAM goods will only be required to report greenhouse gas emissions related to their imports of cement, iron and steel, aluminum, fertilizers, electricity and hydrogen .
"As we prepare for the system to be operational, the European Commission will discuss with countries how to take into account their internal carbon pricing systems and how to minimize the administrative burden for goods coming from their countries," said the vice-president of the European Commission.
He also noted that the European Union is ready to provide support in restoring the flora and fauna of Ukraine, wherever possible.
"I will add that as a person who is very interested in ecocide as a new concept in international law, I am closely following Ukraine's efforts to obtain recognition and compensation from international courts for the environmental damage caused. Russia's absolute disregard for international law makes me skeptical about the chances of a real compensation, but for the development of the concept and its application, Ukraine's further steps in this direction will be very relevant," Timmermans added.
As EcoPolitic reported earlier, 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.
