Ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which opened in Rome on July 10, 44 organizations and over 70 experts from Ukraine and other countries prepared a Roadmap for the sustainable recovery of our country.
It can be found on the Build Ukraine Back Better platform, which brought together experts and activists to work on this document.
The roadmap outlines a list of priority reforms, policies, and structural changes that need to be implemented over the next two years to ensure environmentally sustainable and resilient recovery in six sectors:
- energy;
- buildings and cities;
- transportation;
- environment and natural resources;
- agriculture and landscapes;
- economy and industry.
For each of these sectors, the current state of the sector, the main barriers to sustainable recovery, proposals for sustainable development, and a list of civil society organizations that participated in their development are identified.
Below, we will consider these points for the “Environment and natural resources” sector.
Current state: problems and positive developments
Among the problematic issues related to the environment, the authors of the Roadmap identified the following:
1. Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine has caused unprecedented challenges for the environment and ecological security. Although environmental and climate issues are crucial for health, the economy, security, and European integration, they are often overlooked by the government.
“Environmental policy is seen as an additional burden and obligation and is not properly integrated into the recovery process,” the Roadmap states.
2. The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine is limited in its effectiveness due to a lack of institutional capacity, resources, and, in some cases, political weight, and therefore does not use its available levers of influence systematically and effectively.
3. The lack of a consistent ecosystem conservation strategy threatens irreversible losses of natural areas that should form the basis for sustainable restoration.
4. Despite the requirements of the European course on environmental assessments (environmental impact assessments – EIA – and strategic environmental assessments – SEA), the introduction of “deviations” and “experimental construction” without proper control creates negative precedents that can have long-term negative consequences for the population and the environment.
5. The state environmental control system also needs systemic changes due to its weakness and limited powers, as well as the lack of effective verification and control mechanisms.
6. There is a lack of reliable data on the state of the environment, fragmentation of monitoring systems, and a lack of transparent mechanisms for attracting funding for their development and effective management of available funds.
Among the positive developments that have taken place since 2022 and the necessary steps, experts noted the following:
- A law on industrial pollution, a framework law on climate, and a law on the restoration of the greenhouse gas emissions monitoring system have been adopted. Amendments have also been made to regulations governing environmental monitoring, and work is underway to bring subordinate legislation into line with EU requirements. River basin management plans, etc., have been adopted.
- At the same time, national legislation on ecocide needs to be amended to effectively hold those responsible accountable.
- For a systematic and green recovery of Ukraine, it is necessary to integrate the environmental component into all levels of planning, involve experts, introduce mandatory green requirements, ensure adequate funding, and create a platform to support green recovery.
What measures for sustainable recovery did experts recommend implementing?
All proposals from the “Environment” sector are divided into three clusters. Here is a list of each:
Cluster 1. Environmental monitoring and ecological information: regulation and access.
- Amend paragraph 1 of the transitional provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the State System of Environmental Monitoring, Information on the State of the Environment (Environmental Information), and Information Support for Environmental Management” and specify the date of its entry into force as January 1, 2026.
- Comprehensively develop/modernize the environmental monitoring system.
- Create a comprehensive system of access to environmental information and ensure high-quality interaction with all its administrators.
Cluster 2. Environmental assessments.
- Ensure the implementation of reconstruction projects in compliance with EIA and SEA rules during wartime and post-war periods.
- Improve the EIA tool, in particular by modernising the register of such assessments and ensuring that EIAs are carried out prior to the exploration stage and before obtaining permits for subsoil use.
- Improve the SEA tool by improving the register and activating SEA at the urban planning and land allocation stages.
- Introduce a new type of environmental assessment – “Assessment of the impact on the Emerald Network (Natura 2000) territory”.
- Introduce the EU Taxonomy in Ukraine through the implementation of the Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) principle in programs and projects for Ukraine's recovery from the effects of war.
Cluster 3. State environmental control and legal responsibility for environmental degradation.
- Approve a strategy for state environmental control.
- Adopt Law No. 3091 “On State Environmental Control” and introduce liability for environmental degradation.
EcoPolitic recently reported on critical gaps that stakeholders identified in the establishment of Ukraine's NBS2.
