Ukraine has presented a digital Register of Environmental Damage that will help properly document information about Russia's crimes against Ukrainian nature. In the future, it is expected to become an evidence base for holding Russia accountable.
As reported by the State Ecological Inspectorate, the Register was created together with the United Nations Development Programme with the support of the Government of Sweden.
From recording destruction to evidence for compensation
The State Ecological Inspectorate documents the environmental consequences of Russian attacks every day. These include pollution of land and water bodies, deterioration of air quality and destruction of natural ecosystems. Each such case requires not only recording, but also proper preparation of materials, calculation of the damage caused and preservation of evidence.
The new tool is part of a single, secure and structured information database on environmental crimes. The inspectorate notes that the Register will increase the efficiency of inspectors' work and ensure better preservation of materials in the proper form. This expands the possibilities for using the data to claim compensation from the Russian invaders.
During the presentation, the main functions of the system were also demonstrated, and the digitisation of documents already accumulated by environmental inspectors was discussed.
Source: SEI
How the register is linked to international compensation
One of the main prospects of the new tool is the use of the collected information in international damage compensation mechanisms, in particular in cooperation with the Register of Damage for Ukraine (RD4U).
In fact, this is about creating a systematic evidence base that will help ensure that individual cases of environmental damage are not lost among the huge number of war crimes. Data on each instance of environmental damage must be properly documented and available for further use.
At the same time, the Register may become an information foundation for planning further measures to protect and restore nature.
As a reminder, the COP31 Climate Conference will soon begin in Türkiye. Ukraine plans to hold more than 70 events there, with a main focus on the impact of the war on the fight against climate change. A separate goal is to attract investment for decarbonisation.
