On Monday, November 7th at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, will begin UN Conference on Climate Change (COP27), where Ukraine for the first time will have its own pavilion.
A number of initiatives related to the full-scale Russian invasion will also be presented, told minister protection of the environment and natural resources Ruslan Strilets in an interview for Interfax-Ukraine .
He noted that a large number of events and many issues are planned for 2 weeks, ranging from digitalization to initiatives in the forest industry that should prevent climate change.
Strilets explained that Ukraine will invite representatives of delegations from other countries to its location to hold joint events, as well as to show the consequences of the war unleashed by Russia.
According to him, by starting a war, Russia is actually nullifying all the efforts that civilized countries have been making for decades to protect the environment and prevent climate change, and many countries understand this.
He stressed that COP27 is one of the most important annual eco-events and a very powerful platform to really maintain high-quality communication with all countries of the world and attract to joint initiatives.
Strilets noted that among the main initiatives is to start a dialogue with the countries of the world about the possibility of developing common approaches to assessing environmental damage from military operations.
Ukraine has been counting on environmental damage since the first days of a full-scale war. However, the calculations should not be in doubt in any country in the world during international trials.
He noted that one of the options could be the recognition by the international community of already existing Ukrainian methods, if this would allow proving damages in international courts and speed up this process. UAH 1.3 trillion of environmental losses have already been calculated using these methods.
“If we are talking about the history of international wars and armed conflicts, then it shows that the process of compensation for damage can last 10 or even more years. During this time, the fixed amount of damage is eaten up by inflation. We strive to be able to prove these facts faster,” – Strilets explained.
The article noted that another Ukrainian initiative at COP27 will be the issue of the so-called green grain corridors.
“Today, Russia is blocking the export of not only grain, but also many other goods that, without exaggeration, guarantee the food security of the world. Thus, logistics is built mainly on vehicles, and this is the corresponding emissions and environmental pollution. Therefore, we all need to work out such mechanisms, which will allow less impact on the environment, but at the same time maintain the capacity of export-import operations," Strilets emphasized.
According to him, "the highest link of such an idea" could be the gradual replacement of vehicles with electric vehicles or cars with a hydrogen engine, as well as the use of more environmentally friendly components, such as eco-tires.
Strilets also noted that Ukraine plans to hold a series of negotiations to gain access to international environmental finance before obtaining EU membership.
He also called negotiations with other countries on market and non-market mechanisms for regulating greenhouse gas emissions a very important issue.
"We already have a new agreement with Switzerland, signed at the conference in Lugano, and now the procedure for agreeing on the practical implementation of the agreements is underway. Negotiations are ongoing to establish such cooperation with Japan and sign a corresponding memorandum. I think that at COP27 we will be able to involve a certain number of countries in such cooperation," Strilets said.
As EcoPolitic reported before, experts believe that Ukraine at COP27 have a strong and unified position regarding climate goals and the impact of the war on the environment, which the EU countries would take into account in their future policies
