UNEP is mandated to assist countries, upon request, with pollution mitigation and control in areas affected by armed conflict or terrorism. Responding to a request by the Government of Ukraine, this report was drafted as part of a preparatory process to assist Ukraine in recovery from the current conflict and to inform a comprehensive post-conflict assessment. During the conflict that began on 24 February 2022, Ukraine has experienced considerable environmental destruction. Extensive field assessment work will be required to establish the character, magnitude and significance of conflict-related environmental impacts and remediation requirements.
The report presents a snapshot – but by no means a comprehensive picture – of the damage inflicted on Ukraine''s environment and the potential environmental and public health impacts, informing priorities for field-level verification work. Initial information shows that Ukraine, already burdened by a host of legacy environmental challenges, is now facing a compounded, multi-dimensional environmental crisis that has either exacerbated existing issues or added new ones. It is essential that the ongoing conflict ends now to ensure greater damage to the environment and to people is averted. The country and the region risk being burdened with a toxic legacy long after the conflict ends.
The Ukraine War Is an Environmental Catastrophe with Global Consequences
When it’s time to rebuild, we must prioritize more sustainable and resilient infrastructure in Ukraine
The destruction of Nova Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine on June 6 has forced thousands of people to flee their homes. Residents of Kherson returned to their flooded homes while some villages were still underwater. As people face an electricity shortage, floating land mines and a lack of drinking water, the water level hinders the distribution of aid.
Ashley Chan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
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Jennifer R. Littlejohn is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and serves as acting assistant secretary at the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, where she most recently served as the principal deputy assistant secretary. Prior to that, she served as deputy director of the Secretary of State''s Policy Planning Staff and as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Skopje, North Macedonia.
Raffi Balian is a career foreign service officer who currently serves as division chief for Multilateral Affairs at the Office of Environmental Quality. He previously served as director of the Regional Environmental Office for Central and Eastern Europe and worked on local sustainability action planning in Ukraine during the previous invasion of that country in 2014.
Luke Simmons is a presidential management fellow serving as a public affairs specialist at the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. He previously served in the Peace Corps as an agroforestry volunteer in Guinea in West Africa.
Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at ). Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.
In its war against Ukraine, Russia has sought to cripple the country''s critical infrastructure. It has attacked homes and hospitals, transportation networks and farmland, energy and civilian nuclear facilities, drinking water and wastewater systems, chemical and steel plants, mining facilities and vital seed banks.
Megha Satyanarayana is an award-winning journalist with more than 15 years of experience writing about science, particularly health, medicine and pharma/biotech. She has a Ph.D in molecular biology and is a University of California, Santa Cruz, science communication graduate. Before joining Scientific American in 2021, she was a reporter at Chemical & Engineering News, an editor and social media journalist at STAT and a reporter at the Detroit Free Press, as well as at other daily news outlets. She is a former Knight-Wallace Fellow. She has opinions but would much rather publish yours.
KYIV,19February 2024 –The Environmental Compact for Ukraine, a plan of measures to address the environmental damage Ukraine has suffered due to the full-scale Russian invasion and war, was presented in Kyiv on Feb. 9.
The compact was drawn up by the International Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of War – a high-level group set up at the initiative of the president of Ukraine. It was presented at an event organized by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, with logistical backing from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, and was attended by leading members of the International Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of War.
The working group members presented the document''s recommendations to the President of Ukraine, foreign diplomatic envoys stationed in Kyiv, and representatives of environmental NGOs.
The ground-breaking document is an integral component of the Ukrainian President''s Ten-Point Peace Formula. Comprising 50 meticulously crafted recommendations for Ukraine and the global community, the compact calls for a harmonized approach to evaluating the environmental damage caused by the Russian invasion, delineates strategies for redressing the damage done, and indicates pathways for eco-centric recovery.
The presentation was led by Margot Wallström, co-chair of the Working Group and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Vice-President of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala, and European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans, and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius, among others.
Ruslan Strilets, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, hailed the Environmental Compact as a blueprint for creating the best conditions for environmental recovery.
"The toolkit we have for spearheading our environmental initiatives on the global stage is getting bigger,"Strilets said. "I''mconfident that this (compact) will help pave the way forsustainable peace on a global scale.We''re grateful to the UNDP and other international partners for facilitating this process."
UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine Jaco Cilliers underscored that environmental degradation threatens to be a long-term consequence of the war.
"It is imperative that the international community grasps Ukraine''s urgent needs for its post-war restoration, and that cutting-edge green technologies andenvironmental solutions are integrated into this restoration,"Cilliers said.
"In collaboration with our partners, we remain steadfast in our commitment to help Ukraine maintain its trajectory towards sustainable recovery."
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine supported the presentation of the Environmental Compact for Ukraine as part of anenvironmental damage assessment project funded by the Government of Sweden.
The academy aims to equip the country''s local authorities with the necessary knowledge and tools to prepare recovery and strategic development planning documents
A modern infectious diseases department at the dispensary of the village of Guiva has been equipped with advanced medical and diagnostic equipment, improving
In the wake of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the Anti-Corruption Task Force for Ukraine (ACT for Ukraine) Tokyo Conference, hosted on 6-7 November by the
With financial support from the Government of Sweden, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine has successfully concluded three series of
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine and its long-time strategic partner, the Government of Japan, have jointly announced the provision of
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