The International Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of War has developed and presented the Environmental Compact for Ukraine, which is a roadmap for holding Russia accountable and restoring the environment.
The document has 30 recommendations for Ukraine and 20 for the international community, including assessing the impact of Russian aggression on the environment, approaches to compensation, and proposals for green recovery, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets reports on Facebook.
Streiets was one of the members of the team that worked on the agreement.
"In two weeks it will be two years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. During this time, more than 3,700 crimes against nature were documented. Damages that Russia has caused to Ukraine's environment amount to €56.7 billion," he emphasized.
According to him, the document is the basis within which Ukraine will be able to implement projects such as the Environmental Declaration.
Strilets added that the EU's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040 is a challenge for Ukraine as well.
The internet representative office of the President of Ukraine said that the agreement focuses on three main tasks, namely:
- assessment of environmental damage caused and caused by Russia on the territory of Ukraine;
"We provide images from space and finance the collection of evidence so that eventually Russia will answer not only for the crimes against humanity and Ukrainians, but also for the damage caused to the environment. These crimes will remain after the war: chemicals from bombings, destruction of buildings and water infrastructure, thousands of tons of scrap metal, mines, etc. This all leads to pollution," said the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginius Sinkevičius.
- punishment for committing these crimes;
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak emphasized that every fact of Russia's crime will necessarily become the basis for future trials, and ultimately the basis of the evidence base for compensation and reparations.
- restoration of nature and removal of damage.
According to the words Yermaka, it is not just about restoration, but about improving the living space of people with the help of modern technologies and ecological solutions.
It is noted that soon this agreement will be handed over to all world leaders for perusal, and it will become a topic of discussion at international platforms and conferences. The document will also form the basis of specific policy decisions of the conference, which will be held after the inaugural Global Peace Summit at the level of leaders.
"What Ukraine is doing now is an innovation, it is a world leader. Ukraine says that the environment is important and, despite the war, gives it priority. With the help of this document, we give the world new methodologies, technologies and standards for evaluation damage caused to the environment during the war," said the co-chair of the working group, former Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden Margot Wallström.
The report emphasized that the implementation of this document will facilitate Ukraine's accession to the EU, which also pays considerable attention to the environment.
On January 31, Kyiv hosted the international environmental forum United for Nature. Agenda for Ukraine, where participants discussed the environmental component of the negotiation process on Ukraine's accession to the EU, the country's climate policy and sources of funding for the green transition, decarbonization of the extractive industry, and other important issues.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, the authors of the EURACTIV article called for starting negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU with the Energy and Climate cluster, which would be a pragmatic approach to the development of the bloc.
