ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE IMPACT OF A FULL-SCALE WAR ON GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN UKRAINE

Abstract

The Russian Federation's full-scale war against Ukraine brought a lot of environmental damage to our country, including climate damage. The article analyzes the available data on the volume of greenhouse gas emissions (hereinafter - GHG) in Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation and identifies trends in changing the very structure of these volumes by industry. As long as the war continues, the process of calculating the environmental damage caused, including the amount of GHG emissions, is complicated, since there is no reliable information from the occupied territories of Ukraine and territories where active hostilities are taking place. The decline of the national economy due to the destruction and damage of industrial facilities and energy infrastructure leads to a decrease in GHG emissions. At the same time, there is a large volume of other GHG emissions, namely from active hostilities, in particular from numerous daily explosions. GHG emissions from hostilities in Ukraine have a global impact on the climate, as ecosystems know no borders. That is why ecological security is one of the ten points of the Peace Formula of the President of Ukraine. The aggressor country, Russia, should be responsible for all these emissions and their damage to the environment in Ukraine and world climate. Unfortunately, in the XXI century there are no clear mechanisms in international law and international climate policy to oblige Russia to do so. However, Ukraine, together with international partners, is forming an International Compensation Mechanism to finance recovery. Environmental damage should also be part of this mechanism and register of damage, which is being developed under the auspices of the Council of Europe. One of the largest sources of GHG emissions for Ukraine is expected to be the carbon costs of reconstruction in the future. In our opinion, it is expedient for Ukraine to use compensations from environmental damage caused by the war to build a low-carbon, energy-efficient so-called "green economy". Even during the war Ukraine is taking all possible steps in adapting its environmental policy to EU requirements regarding the European integration course of Ukraine.