Warfare impacts the environment and has a direct impact on the health and safety of ordinary people. In soil contaminated with heavy metals, crops cannot be grown, and it is extremely dangerous to use water from polluted rivers. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, environmental organizations, together with the Ministry of Ecology of Ukraine, have been monitoring the impact of the war on the environment. They recorded more than 2300 cases of such damage, although it should be noted that these figures are unreliable, since a complete list has never been published. Among the many examples are forest fires, shell damage, soil and groundwater contamination by rocket fuel, etc.

However, it is clear that it is not only the environment that suffers as a result of hostilities. At the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP27), for the first time in many years, the topical issue of the impact of the military industry and military operations on the climate was raised. A study was presented, according to which, as a result of the seven-month (so far) seven-month military operation of Russia in Ukraine, 49 million tons of CO2 emissions have already been produced. This is comparable to the annual emissions of an entire country the size of Bulgaria or Portugal. On the one hand, the destruction and consequent stagnation of large-scale industry and population decline as a result of the occupation apparently led to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, studies have calculated that an additional 50 million tons of CO2 will be needed for the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. It would be a mistake to think that the problems associated with the environmental and climate war will disappear after Ukraine wins it. At the COP27 conference, participating countries were slow to announce new climate targets, but were quick to emphasize the importance of energy security and international cooperation. EU member states have felt the pain of dependence on Russian coal, oil and natural gas. During 2022, along with talks on an embargo on Russian fossil fuels, there were other talks about what Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction would look like. Some municipalities in the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions have already started developing their own post-war reconstruction plans.

The European Union recently invested 114 million euros to supply Ukraine with 1,000 generators in addition to the 1,400 it already has, while Ukraine has received millions of pieces of electricity generation equipment through the EU’s civil protection mechanism. And while the country’s critical infrastructure, including hospitals, banks and district heating, needs emergency assistance of any kind, there are greener alternatives. For example, thanks to the initiative of the Ecoclub public organization, solar stations with batteries have already been installed in several hospitals in Ukraine. Each unit finally has an installed capacity of 32.4 kilowatt-hours, enough to power 11 ventilators in intensive care units.

* Ms. Olya Moiko is the Coordinator of the Southern Europe, Caucasus and North Asia Climate Change Action Network.