The European commissioners assessed Ukraine's progress in the field of environment and climate by two points – both the state of convergence and the progress made during the year.
Nataliya Andrusevich, head of the board of the Resource-Analytical Center "Society and Environment", told about this in the material of "European Truth".
Why is the rating so low?
The expert analyzed the report assessing Ukraine's progress in 2024 on the way to joining the EU. The document appeared on the website of the European Commission on October 30.
But a "two" for environmental issues, in her opinion, does not mean that Ukraine did not cope with its task for the year at all. Natalia Andrusevich reminded that Ukraine can boast of some important achievements, for example, the adoption of the law on industrial pollution and the law on the principles of state climate policy, which had not been adopted for years.
However, she emphasized that there are still unfulfilled recommendations presented to our country for the previous year. This explains the low rating. Therefore, these "debts" will have to be paid off next year.
What are the main tasks for 2025
In its report, the European Union offers Ukraine the following three priorities in the field of environmental and climate policies for the coming year:
- To resolve the issue using two main mechanisms for preventing environmental damage: environmental impact assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA).
- Update relevant documents under the Paris Agreement on climate change and ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.
- To restore the system of monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions from industry and to adopt a roadmap for the implementation of the emissions trading system.
Nataliya Andrusevich believes that the first task can be formally solved quite simply by making changes to several laws. At the same time, she warns that this "will require finding a difficult consensus both within the power cabinets and with business, which seeks even greater simplification and deregulation."
"However, it is precisely through the application of OVD and SEO that we will be able to ensure that post-war reconstruction and recovery take place on a green basis, taking into account important ecological principles," the expert is confident.
Regarding the second task, she noted that Ukraine will need to develop, adopt and submit two documents to the UN: an updated national contribution and a long-term low-carbon development strategy. According to the specialist, this will require complex modeling and the search for new compromises with key sectors (energy, transport, industry, etc.).
Natalia Andrusevich expressed the opinion that the implementation of the third recommendation is not a very difficult task, as it will not require the introduction of additional taxes or fees for business today.
Separately, she emphasized that the implementation of each of these three tasks will require the close cooperation of many ministries and stakeholders.
"But we cannot afford to fulfill only three priorities each year. Considering the huge volume of work in the field of environment and climate change, as well as our desire to become a member of the European Union as soon as possible, these rates are unacceptable. After all, at this pace, approaching the EU acquis (and pre-accession readiness) will take more than a decade," the expert summarized.
Previously, EcoPolitic prepared material on reforms, which must be implemented by the Ministry of Environment under the Ukraine Facility program. We also previously informed that Ukraine fulfilled 80% of European integration commitments in the direction of the natural environment and by 2023 achieved progress by 3%.
