Alexei Ovchinnikov
Each month, the UWEC editorial team shares highlights of recent media coverage and analysis of the Ukraine war’s environmental consequences with our readers. As always, we welcome reader feedback, which you can leave by commenting on texts, writing to us (editor@uwecworkgroup.info)б or contacting us via social networks.
Ukraine’s green recovery: the discussion moves to Germany
On 11-12 June, Berlin will host an international conference on issues connected with the reconstruction of Ukraine. The goal of the summit is to attract the attention of companies, foundations, and initiatives for rehabilitating the country, both in the near future and after the end of the war.
The organizers have announced four main themes for the conference, covering business and humanitarian aspects as well as issues relating to local and regional recovery and Ukraine-European Union (EU) relations: 1) Mobilizing the Private Sector for Reconstruction and Economic Growth; 2) Social Recovery and Human Capital for the Future of Ukraine; 3) Recovery of Municipalities and Regions; and 4) EU Accession and Related Reforms.
The topic of green recovery features prominently in two of these areas: business and the EU. Organizers are urging companies to focus specifically on ensuring that their efforts to rebuild Ukraine meet green and digital goals. At the same time, EU accession for the country will be impossible without the adoption of plans to achieve climate neutrality, develop adaptation programs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Several events at the conference will have a clear emphasis on the green agenda. One of them has already been announced by Dixi Group, a Ukrainian think tank active in the energy field since 2008. The event will be devoted to the modernization of Ukraine’s energy network and how to make it more resilient and autonomous, and also consistent with the principles of achieving climate neutrality. These aims, however, clash with the necessity of rebuilding the power system damaged by the war. A National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) was developed in 2024 to address precisely this issue.
This is the third international conference devoted to Ukraine’s recovery, following previous summits in Lugano in 2022 and London in 2023. The plans put forward and adopted in Lugano drew criticism from Ukrainian environmental organizations, which questioned their lack of transparency and citizen involvement.
Read more: Environmentalists critique Ukraine’s reconstruction plan
The conference in London was also underwhelming in terms of active lobbying for the environmental agenda and plans for green recovery, though Ukrainian environmental experts hailed it as more successful than the meeting in Switzerland. The creation of a $60-billion fund was also announced in London, though the details are still not fully clear.
Read more: URC23 Review: Ukraine offers investment opportunities
UWEC Work Group will continue to monitor the conference and will prepare a special report about the event for our readers.
Ukraine’s green recovery needs an integrated approach
On the eve of the conference, a series of events were held with the support of the European Union. These were aimed, among other things, at popularizing the green recovery agenda for Ukraine. One of these was held in Leipzig, Germany on 22 May as part of the International Transport Forum.
Its participants noted that rebuilding Ukraine after the war represents a unique opportunity for transforming both infrastructure and society itself. Naturally, this will require securing significant funding, but effectiveness of these investments will only be achieved if proper planning is done, including in the modernization of transportation.
According to the Ukrainian environmental organization Ecodiya (Ecoaction), the transport sector accounts for around 12% of Ukraine’s greenhouse gas emissions. Solutions could include allocating separate lanes for public transport, synchronizing the operation of city and international lines, digitalizing public transport and optimizing its operation using data analysis, introduction of integrated electronic ticketing, and much more. All of this can be tested and introduced today, with no need to wait for the end of the war. Proven technologies and solutions can be used in the reconstruction and development of cities most affected by the war.
New policy paper on Ukraine’s green recovery reports on public access to decision-making
Lviv-based resource and analysis center Society and Environment recently published a document on its website titled “Post-War Green Recovery of Ukraine: Processes, Parties’ Interests, Citizen Participation.” The purpose of the study is to analyze public access to decision-making mechanisms for Ukraine’s green recovery and climate change adaptation/reduction of emissions.
The study was carried out by Ukrainian experts, with financial support from the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the German government. The aim was to analyze recently announced or already active projects for the green recovery of Ukraine based on their openness to citizen participation in decision-making. The main criteria for the analysis were: 1) accessibility for citizens to participate in green recovery and climate adaptation/mitigation projects; 2) the level of compliance of recovery projects with environmental and climate goals, and the extent to which the restoration actually plans to be green.
The study can be downloaded in Ukrainian and English.
This is not the only study of green recovery projects in Ukraine published this year. For example, in February 2024 a proposal was released by Green Deal Ukraїna (GDU), a project engaged in setting up a Kyiv-based think tank to support Ukraine’s alignment with the EU initiative. In this study, the GDU working group examines the rebuilding of Ukraine from six key perspectives: adaptation of Ukrainian industry to Green Deal norms (strategies for achieving carbon neutrality in the EU) and its entry into European markets; development of carbon management and support for bioenergy for Ukrainian farmers; energy efficiency and environmental sustainability issues in new and renovated buildings in Ukraine; development of more sustainable energy systems; low-carbon solutions for transport; and government guarantees for the green recovery of Ukraine.
Studies like this one create an important conceptual basis for the development of Ukraine’s green recovery, although it still remains unclear when it will begin, how it will unfold, and where exactly the money will come from. Perhaps answers to some of these questions will be given at the upcoming conference.
Citizens’ role in the analysis of the war’s environmental consequences and in Ukraine’s green recovery
The recovery of the country is impossible without the active participation of its citizens. Their choice in favor of green and sustainable development will simplify the adoption and public justification of decisions. Awareness will also make it possible to assess the environmental consequences of Russia’s full-scale invasion, collect data on crimes against nature, and identify solutions for society.
The Ukrainian project Hromada has produced a series of webinar lectures, which not only touched upon the environmental consequences of Russia’s full-scale invasion, but also considered the possibility of involving citizens in documenting crimes against nature, biodiversity monitoring, and other environmental initiatives.
The first lecture was devoted to the gathering of data on military environmental crimes since 2014, as well as their consideration within the framework of international law. This topic was also the focus of the second lecture, which narrowed in on the question of ecocide. Concrete examples of environmental crimes were examined in the third lecture, whose speakers were representatives of the Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS), an international research center specializing in analysis of war crimes against nature. The fourth lecture was devoted to the experience of working with limited data. This is a problem that many experts conducting analysis of the environmental consequences of the war have remarked upon. The fifth lecture talks about the work that has been done to save animals that have suffered during the war, from zoos and nature reserves to pets. The sixth lecture focuses on the difficulties of running protected areas during an invasion. The seventh lecture raises the important question of citizens’ rights to a healthy environment — rights which should be upheld even during military conflicts. The eighth lecture explores how citizens and society can participate in monitoring biodiversity, helping to collect data that is of value to science.
The Hromada project is continuing to run webinar lectures. One of the most recent took place on 28 May and was devoted to civil advocacy for environmental justice issues. In late August and early September, a summer school will be organized in Hamburg for participants, where they can discuss the knowledge they have acquired and propose their own projects for civil society environmental participation in Ukraine. You can follow the project news both on the project’s website and on social media.
Translated by Alastair Gill
Main image source: Angela Christofilou / Greenpeace
