Ukraine

On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a large-scale military invasion of Ukraine. The unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine has caused severe human and physical damage, also heavily targeting the civilian population and civilian infrastructure nationwide. To respond to the humanitarian emergency caused by the war, the EU4Climate has been repurposing part of the project’s budget towards emergency response and addressing the immediate needs of the war-distressed population, complementing EU humanitarian assistance։

procurement of medical supplies to address the immediate needs of the Ukrainian population;

engagement of the Frankfurt Zoological Society to provide basic needs for IDPs staying in national parks and other protected areas in Ukraine;

engagement of the Association “Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine” to assist in needs assessment of the impacted municipalities, purchasing and delivering equipment such as power generators for critical infrastructure, and providing training about the safe use of the generators for the representatives of impacted municipalities.

Ongoing and planned activities of the EU4Climate Ukraine are being implemented as conditions allow.

The war in Ukraine, in all its dimensions, is producing alarming cascading effects on a world economy already battered by COVID-19 and climate change, severely disrupting food, energy, and financial markets.

Some early assessments have already registered pollution incidents that place people and ecosystems at risk of acute and long-term harm. Ukraine will be facing huge environmental problems as the war is poisoning the nation’s air, water and soil. These concern air pollution from military sites and materiel, including soil and water contamination, also coming from coal mines in the zone of conflict. Besides recorded and future damage to the ecosystems, both the military build-up and impacts from the fighting will generate significant GHG emissions. Compared to 2021, the total area of the forest fires in Ukraine increased 100 times, with the majority of fires happening in the South and East of Ukraine. Additionally to the serious biodiversity losses, destroyed forests and peatlands will largely impact the possibility a) to offset carbon emissions; and b) to increase adaptation capacity via the nature-based solutions. Additional pressure is created by the occupation of Ukrainian sea ports by the Russian military, already causing serious concerns about the world’s food security and forcing Ukrainian authorities and the international community to seek alternative logistical solutions to deliver lifesaving food supplies to the most vulnerable countries, which will generate additional GHG emissions.

The post-war reconstruction of Ukraine will need to take the energy, environmental and climate impacts seriously at the outset to cope with future energy supply and climate change impacts. The impact of the war on Ukrainian society and economy has been severe, with the Kyiv School of Economics estimating the war’s overall hit to the Ukrainian economy to be as much as $600 billion. Accelerating the pace of the green transition is more important than ever to mitigate negative environmental and climate impacts and to ensure Ukraine rebuilds a sustainable, green and just economy. Initial steps towards the post-war reconstruction have already been made. The European Union stresses that the reconstruction should be in line with the European green and digital agenda. The energy relations with Ukraine will remain focused on sustainable energy security and the green energy transition, following the commitments at the 6th Eastern Partnership Summit in December 2021. The resilience, energy security and green transition of Ukraine are linked to the European Union’s and, therefore, a central priority.

The UNDP has announced its new support programme to meet the needs of millions of people in Ukraine over the next two years. The programme will:

(I.) support the Government-led crisis response and public service delivery;

(II.) leverage Ukraine’s human capital, economic capacities and natural
resources to meet immediate humanitarian needs and strengthen
resilience, social and economic recovery, and

(III.) strengthen institutions and civil society to maintain the social fabric, uphold human rights and ensure inclusion, protection and empowerment of all people. UNDP experts have been deployed to work on crisis governance, humanitarian assistance, mine action, debris management and environmental hazards.

With EU4Climate support, policy-making and research will also contribute to building back Ukraine better, increasing its climate resilience, financing climate solutions and decreasing energy dependence on fossil fuels. Reconstruction of infrastructure and areas affected by hostilities should take into account the restoration of the ecosystems’ adaptability to climate change. In this context, the Methodological Guidelines for Risk Assessment and Vulnerability to Climate Change, which are currently being developed, are of particular importance, as due to hostilities natural and natural-anthropogenic systems were heavily destabilised, significantly increasing their vulnerability to external influences, resilience and ability to adapt to climate change. EU4Climate also develops a feasibility study on the potential of alternative fuel use in aviation and water transport. Refueling from sustainable and achievable sources is a major part of the energy security, rebuilding the energy system in a green way and achieving the GHG emissions targets.

Climate policy development and advancing cooperation with the EU in Ukraine

- 2014
  - Association Agreement with EU
  - National Energy Efficiency Action Plan
    (NEEAP) (2015-2020)
- 2015
  - INDC 2021-2030
  - Paris Agreement
  - Pledge to Sustainable Developent
    Agenda 2030
  - National Renewable Energy Action Plan
    till 2020
- 2016
  - Ratification of Paris Agreement
  - The Concept on State Policy on Climate Change till 2030
- 2017
  - EU-Ukraine AA fully effective
  - The Action Plan to Implement Concept on State Policy on Climate Change till 2030
  - Energy Strategy of Ukraine (2035)
- 2018
  - LEDS submitted (2021-2050)
  - National Energy and Climate Plans
    (NECPs) working group
- 2019
  - EU4Climate launched
  - Monitoring, Reporting and Verification(MRV) of GHG emissions
  - Law adopted Law on Ozone-Depleting Substances and F-gases adopted
- 2020
  - Secondary legislation on MRV implementation adopted
  - Sublegal acts on Ozone-depleting substances and F-gases adopted
- 2021
  - Updated NDC to Paris Agreement (2021-2030) approved
  - National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) (2021-2030) – under development
  - Environmental Safety and Climate Change Adaptation Strategy by 2030 and Adaptation Action Plan
- 2022
  - NDC Implementation Plan – under development
  - NDC Financial Strategy and Action Plan by 2030 – under development
  - Framework Climate Law of Ukraine – under development
  - National reconstruction plan, including environment and climate elements – under development

EU4Climate key policy interventions and expected impact

The primary tool for bringing Ukraine and the EU closer together is the Association Agreement (AA), including its Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) signed in 2014. One of the priority reforms in the AA is energy efficiency. The EU contributes substantially to the Ukrainian Energy Efficiency Fund and supports raising
awareness for energy efficiency investments. The EU continues providing assistance in gas and electricity sectors modernisation and market reform in Ukraine. It is also supporting the establishment of an independent energy regulatory authority and new gas and electricity laws to improve efficiency in the energy sector. The EU also helps Ukraine in its ambitious transport agenda, and the country has drafted a comprehensive action plan, necessary to improve and decarbonise the transport sector

The EU4Climate Programme, funded by the European Union, aims to support the development and implementation of climate-related policies by the Eastern Partnership countries.
In Ukraine specifically, the project’s main components are the development of a National Adaptation Strategy and further mainstreaming climate change into the energy and transport sectors.
The best international and EU practices will be applied throughout the project, including alignment with EU Acquis according to the bilateral agreements and the Energy Community Treaty on Climate Action.

Result areas and timeframe in Ukraine

RESULT AREAS

2019

2020

2021

2022

NDC

MRV System

EU Climate Acquis

Climate mainstreaming

Climate investment

Adaptation planning

The Implementation of the EU4Climate activities started in Ukraine in the second half of 2019, with some initial activities relating to the stocktaking, planning and development of a National Adaptation Strategy and aligning the national climate change legislation with the EU Acquis performed in 2019.

Full country profile can be downloaded here.