Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has distracted world governments from efforts to combat climate change, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address broadcast Tuesday at the COP27 climate change conference in Egypt, Reuters reported.

“There can be no effective climate policy without peace,” he said, pointing to the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on global energy supplies, food prices and Ukrainian forests.

“This Russian war has caused an energy crisis that has forced dozens of countries to resume coal-fired power generation to lower energy prices for their people… to lower prices that are skyrocketing due to Russia’s deliberate actions.”

“This has brought the world an acute food crisis, which has hit hardest those suffering from the existing manifestations of climate change … the Russian war has destroyed 5 million acres of forest in Ukraine in less than six months,” Zelenskyy said.