The Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 (URC2024) was held in Berlin and lasted for 2 days. Our country was represented by government officials – the President, MPs, officials of relevant ministries – as well as representatives of business and NGOs. During the meetings, the European partners made it clear that Ukraine's recovery should be "green" and emphasized the need to move from discussions to concrete actions.
The Ministry called the launch of the International Platform for Action for the Green Recovery of Ukraine the most important event for the environment. A joint statement on this was signed by UNEP, OECD and UNECE. And the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection has already announced financial support for the platform in the amount of €5,000,000.
According to Iryna Chernysh, co-founder and head of the NGO "SaveDnipro", considering the level of environmental damage, the damage of which already amounts to more than 2.4 trillion UAH, the amount of aid looks modest. But the expert noted that the environmental track is also mentioned in joint communiqué following the results of the first meeting at the ministerial level of the Multilateral Coordination Platform of Donors for Ukraine.
"We will continue to coordinate our efforts to cover Ukraine's financial needs, preserve macroeconomic and financial stability, develop sustainable, sustainable, inclusive, gender-oriented and green recovery based on strong democratic institutions, the rule of law and anti-corruption measures," the members of the Platform noted.
Also, Ms. Chernysh said that the Minister of Environmental Protection, Ruslan Strelets, was not physically present at URC2024, he had a speech online. Among the main theses of the speech, he mentioned 12 new environmental laws and reforms, thanks to which Ukraine has a reliable foundation for green reconstruction, but he did not specify which legislative initiatives these are.
In the expert's opinion, the answer to the moderator's question about potential areas for investments in Ukraine regarding green reconstruction looks alarming, because among the main directions Ruslan Strelets singled out:
- use of subsoil;
- investments in the joint-stock company "Water of Ukraine", which is planned to be created;
- I will harvest wood;
- development of renewable energy sources in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
Iryna Chernysh noted that the main part of what was voiced has nothing to do with environmental protection, rather with the positioning of the environment as a resource base, which is a very alarming bell for the sphere.
"And in the context of the fact that the issue of green reconstruction and restoration was not heard from the mouths of the highest leadership of the country, it looks as if Ukraine can be turned into a resource base in the process of reconstruction. It is worth remembering that the devil is in the details, and when we prepare European integration legislation for the implementation of European norms, which are mandatory for joining the EU, we can create a Frankenstein, laying in new laws and other normative legal acts the conditions for exceptional rapid reconstruction, simplifying or completely canceling environmental procedures, or making certain concessions for nature users," she warned.
Among the positive aspects of URC2024, Ms. Chernysh noted a significantly wider representation of the public sector: the conference was attended by representatives of almost all leading organizations in the field of environmental protection. According to the expert, this clearly demonstrates the understanding of the Western partners of the importance of the participation of public organizations in the recovery process.
According to Olena Shulyak, a member of the Verkhovna Rada, the main idea of URC2024 is perfectly characterized by the Ukrainian proverb "less words – more action". She noted that our partners expect clear technical steps on the road map of transformational reforms. The deputy said that on the sidelines of the conference and in official speeches, the most used phrases were building better than before ("building better than before"), sustainable recovery management ("management of sustainable recovery"), circular economy ("circular economy") and anticorruption infrastructure ("anti-corruption infrastructure").
"Representatives of the governments of European countries, in fact, said the same thing in unison: we must ensure a stable and effective recovery ecosystem, having completed our homework on the list of urgent anti-corruption measures, carry out a number of structural reforms provided for in the Ukraine Facility plan (in particular, more than 150 indicators in 69 areas) and in agreements with the IMF," she said.
She also separately noted that European partners are very concerned about the personnel policy of rebuilding and restoring Ukraine: they need good managers and executors at all levels of government who will take charge of the country's restoration process.
"There must be people who will not only take responsibility for the recovery strategy, but also create a sectoral road map for its implementation, promote the ability of communities to form project groups and teams, and implement ideas into life," she said.
Oleksandr Dombrovsky, President of MHP Eco Energy, said that the key conclusion of the German-Ukrainian green dialogue "Rebooting Ukraine with Renewable Energy" was that Ukraine needs to be invested in right now, without waiting for the end of the war: both in the restoration of energy infrastructure based on innovative green technologies and in the Ukrainian economy. He noted that many large German companies are already operating in Ukraine, and even more are preparing very cool investment projects. As EcoPolitic previously reported, the International Action Platform for the Green Recovery of Ukraine was launched in Berlin.
