SK sustainable development digest. Environmental damage caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine

The damages caused by the war to the environment. Civilian casualties, destruction of critical and civilian infrastructure, economic damage, harm to historical heritage – the list of disasters brought by the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine is non-exhaustive. No less critical is the damage to the environment. The war will have both short-term and long-term consequences for the environment, including:

• increased radiation background near nuclear facilities;
• environmental pollution due to emissions of harmful substances from destroyed industrial facilities;
• countless fires (including forest fires) due to shelling;
• destruction of natural landscapes, terrestrial and marine habitats;
• chemical and noise pollution from the use of military equipment;
• accumulation of military scrap (remnants of weapons and equipment).

The harm caused by the military aggression to the environment of Ukraine. In a short period, Russian troops resorted to large-scale rocket and artillery shelling throughout the country. Although under such conditions, it is impossible to identify the damage caused clearly, there are already documented cases of significant environmental damage:

• The capture of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone by Russian troops. An automated radiation monitoring system recorded an increasing control level of gamma radiation dose rate. Such growth is associated with the movement of military equipment, which disrupts the topsoil and raises radioactive dust. Ukraine informed the IAEA about the state of affairs in the exclusion zone. The threat of damage to the nuclear waste repositories ISF-1 and ISF-2, the New safe confinement over the “Shelter” construction, and the Chornobyl nuclear units remains relevant. The damage to such objects will cause irreversible harm to regional environmental safety;
• shelling of radioactive waste storage site of the State Specialized Enterprise “Radon” in Kyiv. The facility remained intact, and no leakage of radionuclides was detected;
• fire at a petroleum depot in the Vasylkiv community of the Kyiv region as a result of rocket and artillery shelling. The damage is estimated at UAH 810 billion. As a result of the fire, carbon monoxide, acid gases, aromatic compounds, aldehydes, ketones, and soot, which are harmful to the human body (the latter being a dangerous carcinogen), were released into the air;
• blowing up a petroleum depot near the railway station in the village Borodyanka of the Kyiv region. The smoke has spread to the nearby villages. Extinguishing the fire and assessing the consequences is currently impossible, as fighting is taking place on the ground;
• shelling of a petroleum depot in the village of Okhtyrka in the Sumy region, causing environmental damage similar to Vasylkiv’s fire.

According to the Acting Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, Ruslan Strelets, preparing a lawsuit against the Russian Federation to the UN International Court of Justice for total compensation for environmental damage has begun.

The very method of waging war is marked by an attempt to inflict the greatest environmental damage: occupational aircraft conducts manoeuvres in the no-fly zone over nuclear facilities (Chornobyl NPP, Zaporizhzhya NPP), which limits the possibility of its neutralisation, as it can cause unavoidable environmental consequences for surrounding regions, and not only in Ukraine. The head of NNEGC Energoatom appealed to the IAEA to intervene to prevent the occupational forces from entering the 30-km zone around Ukrainian nuclear power plants.

Sustainable development news before the war

Sectoral legislation

Green bonds

On 23 February 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (hereinafter – CMU) approved the Concept of introducing and developing the green bond market in Ukraine. The implementation of the concept is designed for 2023 and, among other things, provides for:

• creation of a national guide to green bonds;
• regulation of reporting rules and standards for green bond issuers;
• introduction of incentives for the development of the green bond market;
• creation of accreditation regimes for independent verifiers and evaluators of green bonds.

Emission inventory

On 23 February 2022, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources published a draft order amending the Instruction on the content and procedure for compiling a report on the inventory of pollutant emissions at the enterprise (hereinafter – the Instruction). The draft order provides for the exclusion of a provision from the Instruction, which obliges business entities to submit reports on the inventory of pollutant emissions to the responsible authorities. According to the explanatory note, the changes to the Instruction are justified by the desire to reduce administrative pressure on business entities and to eliminate regulatory barriers.

Land protection

On 16 February 2022, the CMU approved Resolution № 131 on amendments to the methodology for determining the damage caused by violations of the legislation on land protection and use. In addition to the unauthorised occupation of land and the use of land contrary to the designated purpose, the method now applies to determining the amount of damage due to land damage, violations of the regime, regulations, and land use rules.

The methodology is also supplemented by provisions on the justification for calculating the amount of damage. Such justification is provided by the following documents that confirm the fact of the offence:

• an inspection act or an act was drawn up as a result of a planned or unscheduled measure of state supervision (control);
• protocol on administrative offence.

Changes to the methodology also approve changes to the coefficients of land use and coefficients used to consider the environmental value, the presence of restrictions (encumbrances), which determine the special land use regime.

Environmental audit

On 10 February 2022, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management recommended the Verkhovna Rada to adopt in principle based on the results of the first reading the draft Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Improving the Environmental Audit Procedure” № 6349 dated 25 November 2021. The draft law provides for the harmonisation of the Law of Ukraine “On Environmental Audit” with current legislation, in particular with the Law of Ukraine “On Environmental Impact Assessment”. The scope of mandatory environmental audits is extended to:

• liquidation or decommissioning of enterprises, institutions or organisations, their structural subdivisions;
• cases of environmental audit based on a court decision establishing violations of environmental legislation.

In addition, the draft law provides for the separation of the environmental audit conclusion in a separate document and defines its contents. The draft law provides a requirement to publish the mandatory environmental audit conclusion on the official websites of the environmental audit customers and the central executive body implementing state policy in environmental protection.

Biomethane registry

On 10 February 2022, the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine published a draft resolution of the CMU “On Approval of the Procedure for the Operation of the Biomethane Registry”. The draft resolution is developed to implement the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Alternative Fuels”. The draft resolution provides the regulation of the basic principles of the biomethane registry, the responsibilities of the holder and users of the registry, the procedure for issuing guarantees of origin for biomethane and the procedure for conducting an independent audit of activities related to biomethane production.

Regarding the Concept of the Target Environmental Monitoring Program

On 8 February 2022, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources published a draft order of the CMU “On Approval of the Concept of the State Target Environmental Monitoring Program”. The draft order is developed to increase the efficiency of the Environmental Monitoring System (hereinafter – the Monitoring System), operating under the Law of Ukraine “On Environmental Protection” № 1264-XII of 25.06.1991.

The document proposes the introduction of structural changes to the Monitoring System, the data of which will be used to ensure the information needs of public administration in the field of environmental protection. According to this scenario, the expected funding will not exceed UAH 100 million. The Ministry also analysed additional financing for the Monitoring System without changes in its structure and content, but this option was considered inexpedient.

The draft order provides a description, expected results, and an approximate estimate of the funding for the State Target Environmental Monitoring Program and provides an implementation period of 8 years.

International experience

Energy Community headline target for energy efficiency

The Energy Community has achieved the 2020 headline target for energy efficiency, with the combined final energy consumption resting well below the maximum. Significant progress has also been reached concerning the 2020 renewables target; in particular, Albania, Moldova and Montenegro outperformed their national renewables targets. Ukraine achieved its 2020 energy efficiency target, keeping primary energy consumption well below the cap set to 101,316 thousand tons of oil equivalent in 2020.

Carbon emissions prices

On 8 February 2022, the cost of CO2 emission allowances in the EU reached a record EUR 98 per tonne. Since the beginning of 2021, the EU Emission Trading System prices have increased by 200 per cent. Among the reasons for the sharp rise in carbon prices are the transition of electricity producers to coal due to rising gas prices, the announcement of the EU’s course to accelerate emissions reductions by 55 per cent by 2030 under the Fit for 55 package.

Corporate experience

On 8 February 2022, British Petroleum Corp. announced plans to direct more than 40 per cent of capital expenses by 2025 to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality. The British multinational energy company plans to make a profit of USD 9-10 billion by 2030 from projects in the fields of bioenergy, charging stations for electric vehicles, renewable energy sources and hydrogen.

EU ‘green’ taxonomy

On 2 February 2022, the European Commission approved in principle the draft Complementary Climate Delegated Act, which contains criteria for qualifying nuclear and gas energy as an economic activity covered by the EU’s ‘green’ taxonomy. The EU’s ‘green’ taxonomy is an act that sets out the technical criteria by which economic activity is classified as ‘sustainable’ and does not harm environmental goals. This act serves as a guide for investors interested in meeting the ESG criteria.

Critical sustainability criteria for gas energy:

• new gas capacities are intended to replace energy sources that cannot be replaced by renewable technologies (particularly coal-fired plants). New gas facilities should be built by 31 December 2030;
• gas facilities should be able to switch to renewable energy sources or low-carbon gases by the end of 2035;
• Gas capacities must meet the targets for reducing carbon emissions: new installations should meet an emission threshold of 270 g of CO2 per kilowatt-hour (built before 31 December 2030), for the existing gas facilities – no more than 100 g of CO2 per kilowatt-hour.

Critical sustainability criteria for nuclear energy projects:

• demonstrating appropriate plans, funds and a site for the safe disposal of radioactive waste;
• new nuclear facilities must obtain a construction permit by 2045;
• existing nuclear power plants (including modified or modernised) will be considered ‘green’ only until 2040, except for Generation III nuclear facilities (characterised by higher availability and an average operating life of 60 years) – will be ‘green’ until 2045;
• must be located in the EU Member-State and comply with existing EU legislation in nuclear energy.

 Sustainable development in Ukraine

Development of biomethane in Ukraine

On 16 February 2022, the first 4.5 MW biomethane production complex in Ukraine was launched near Zhytomyr. The plant of Dionis Biogas Energy LLC will produce up to 20 million cubic meters of biomethane per year based on waste from the alcohol industry, sugar factories and elevators.

On 10 February 2022, the Regional Gas Company confirmed the first connection of a biomethane facility to the regional gas network in Ukraine. The connection of the facility is planned for the second half of 2022.

Increase in wind power capacity

In 2022, the wind generation in Ukraine is projected to increase by 1 GW. According to Andriy Konechenkov, Chairman of the Board of the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association, in 2022, a number of construction projects can be fully or partially implemented, namely: DTEK VDE Tiligul WPP (total project capacity 564 MW), Vindkraft Kalanchak WPP (300 MW), Hero Asia Investment Limited South Ukrainian WPP (300 MW), Elementum Energy’s Dniester WPP (100 MW).

Green real estate certification

In Ukraine, 184 thousand square meters of office real estate has passed the ‘green’ certification. According to a study of eco-initiatives in commercial real estate conducted by Colliers Ukraine, ‘green’ certification increases the probability of an international tenant choosing a building by 10 per cent and helps reduce operating costs.

 Information contained in this article is for general informational purposes only, does not constitute legal or any other professional advice and should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific professional advice adapted to the specific circumstances. 

Authors: Maryna Hritsyshyna, Nataliia Hutarevych, Sergiy Bovkunovych