Ukrainian Pavilion at COP28 Highlights the Impact of War on Climate
Despite the full-scale war, Ukraine remains committed to sustainability and climate action, and actively participates in global initiatives, such as the UN climate change conference COP28 held in Dubai in end of November – early December 2023. This was the second time when the country presented its pavilion at COP. The pavilion not only showcased the scale of environmental damage caused by Russian aggression but offered preventive measures against ecocide relevant to the entire planet.
The Ukrainian delegation took part in COP28 with the following priorities:
- Sign the Environmental Declaration.
- Launch the Global Damage Assessment Platform announced by the President of Ukraine at COP27.
- Initiate international dialogue on developing a new mechanism for calculating and compensating damages caused by armed conflicts.Consider the possibility of incorporating this mechanism into the Paris Agreement.
- Call for accountability for the increase in greenhouse gas emissions due to the country’s recovery from the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Ukraine presented solutions to environmental challenges arising from the war and demonstrated the global environmental damage. The Ukrainian pavilion served as a hub for discussing the present and future of the country as visitors had the opportunity to acquaint themselves with Ukraine’s restoration plan, involving 850 large-scale projects over the next decade. Priority areas were defined as following – energy independence, the EU accession, including “Recovery of a Clean and Protected Environment,” and “European Green Deal.”
At the conference consensus was reached among all the parties to establish the Loss and Damage Fund. For Ukraine, the issue of loss and damage would mean held Russia accountable for 150 million tons of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and the resulting climate impact due to the hostilities. However, there is no applicable mechanism within the international climate policy or in international humanitarian law. Therefore, it becomes crucial to identify or develop international legal instruments to hold aggressor countries accountable for additional emissions from war. This includes negative climate consequences in the register of losses through estimating the financial cost of emissions related to war. It remains a sensitive issue for many states.
The main outcome of the conference became the signature of the COP28 Declaration on climate, relief, recovery, and peace by representatives from over 50 countries and 30 institutions. The Declaration received broad support, demonstrating a unified global determination in creating a sustainable future amidst current climate crises.
Ukraine representatives remained determined that delivering on the Paris Agreement goals, recovery must take place on “building back better” principles and the country will pursue this goal.
The Ukrainian pavilion at COP28 was organized by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine with the support of the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), other donors and partners.