Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is not only claiming thousands of lives.
It also poses a massive burden on the climate and the environment.
Since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the war has created emissions of 175 million tons of CO2 that would otherwise not have been emitted.
This is what Ukrainian Environment Minister Svetlana Grinchuk says at the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.
– It is very strange to be here and discuss climate neutrality and the future of the international community, while at the same time we have the very unfair situation, says the minister.
The emission corresponds to more than four times Denmark’s total annual emission, which is around 40 million tonnes of CO2.
The Ukrainians have used the official UN standards to measure the war’s emissions of CO2.
The enormous pollution is partly due to the attacks with bombs, rockets and drones.
The explosions create emissions, but the subsequent fires of coal-fired power stations, forests and buildings pollute even more – especially when reconstruction is taken into account.
In addition, there is a large consumption of fossil fuels for Russia and Ukraine’s army of tanks, planes and ships.
The Ukrainian environment minister talks about the climate side of the war with gallows humour.
– Russia has helped us to phase out coal because they have destroyed all our coal power plants. It can be called restructuring, but it is not a fair restructuring, says Svetlana Grinchuk.
Like a vicious spiral, the bombings and subsequent fires have destroyed three million hectares of the forests that should absorb CO2 from the atmosphere.
– The forest fires have an additional emission at the moment of the fire, but at the same time the natural absorption function that the forests provide is also removed, says the minister.
However, wars and destruction will not make Ukrainians forget about the green transition, says Svetlana Grinchuk.
The country has, among other things with help from Denmark, focused its energy planning on replacing destroyed coal power plants with decentralized renewable energy plants.
The minister highlights, for example, that Denmark’s Vestas has built a wind farm just 100 kilometers from the front line.
Climate and environmental policy is connected to a completely independent torment.
It hurts to see forests and natural areas burn up or be covered with thousands of mines.
Likewise, it pains Svetlana Grinchuk to see an expensively constructed power plant go up in flames – especially because it will mean a lack of heat and electricity for the citizens.
– I understand that it is not over yet and that we will have further destruction and lose even more nature and forest, she says.
– But at the same time, we must keep developing, because we cannot stop. We have no chance to change the wind if we do not change the situation.
/ritzau/
Source: www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk
