Item 0b, presentation by UNECE on assessments of the environmental damage resulting from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine during the Special session on Ukraine of the GREEN Action Task Force Annual Meeting 2023.

1. Activities of UNECE and partners
2023 Annual Meeting of the GREEN Action Task Force,
Istanbul, Türkiye, 11-12 May 2023
Ongoing and future support of the GREEN Action Task
Force to Ukraine
Special Session:

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4.  [Ministers] recognize the need to assess the environmental consequences of the military aggression
against Ukraine for both the country and the surrounding region, and affirm our support to Ukraine in
its reconstruction, including for providing subsequent assistance for restoration.
 We invite the UNECE secretariat, in cooperation with UNEP, OECD and others, to prioritize
assessing the most urgent environmental needs in Ukraine based upon the methodology of the
UNECE Environmental Performance Review (EPR) Programme and on the results of ongoing
and planned impacts assessments, and to make recommendations to advance a sustainable
recovery of the country, in line with the Lugano Declaration and its seven principles adopted at the
Ukraine Recovery Conference of 4-5 July 2022.
9th Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference,
Nicosia, 5–7 October 2022
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5.  Led by UNECE, UNEP and OECD, with UNIDO, UNDP, the World Bank, OSCE and the Ramsar
Convention Secretariat
 Kick-off seminar on Assessments of the Environmental Damage Resulting from the Russian
Invasion of Ukraine, 16 February 2023
 120 stakeholders including from Government and Parliament of Ukraine, government officials from other UNECE member
States, UN entities, international organizations including OECD, OSCE and IUCN, multilateral development banks
including the World Bank and Council of Europe Development Bank, and international and Ukrainian NGO. EU institutions:
European Commission, European External Action Service, EIB and European Environment Agency.
 Opportunity to encourage all actors engaged in the assessments to share information
 Coordination among different actors is key for ensuring credible results in this dynamic situation
 Credible information and verifiable data needed to support reconstruction and for communication purposes
 Work of international partners, national partners in Ukraine and NGOs was mutually supportive
 Green reconstruction is challenge ahead, building on current work
 Paved the way for future interaction, possibly more on a technical level
 Mapping assessments crucial for identifying gaps and overlaps
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Informal inter-agency coordination group
on environmental assessments for Ukraine

6.  Seminar on Use on Earth observations and remote sensing, with aim of assisting Ukraine
identify practical means of extending the geographic scope of thematic assessments, 24
May 2023
 Inventory of assessments of the environmental damage resulting from the Russian
invasion of Ukraine -- under continuous development.
 Based on this, preparation of a Mapping of assessments, their scopes and methods, to identify gaps,
weaknesses and uncertainties that need to be addressed to ensure their usefulness
 Ongoing review of assessment methodologies, supported by a network of experts, with
aim of making assessments more robust and fit for purpose. Reviewing draft air pollution
methodology
 Description and prioritization of possible generic remediation measures for certain types
of environmental damage and preliminary prioritization of the measures
 Promotion of principles for a green recovery and reconstruction, possibly combined with a
seminar
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Informal inter-agency coordination group
on environmental assessments for Ukraine

7.  UNECE Executive Secretary Olga Algayerova was in Kyiv on 9 and 10 October 2022, to discuss
UNECE support to the reconstruction of Ukraine
 Pilot project to develop the reconstruction master plan for the city of Kharkiv
 With pro-bono inputs from the Norman Foster Foundation, UNECE Centre of Excellence on smart sustainable cities, with the
active engagement of the local population and local architects
 Coordinated by UNECE under UN4Kharkiv Task Force, which comprises multiple UN agencies working together to support
government efforts in developing innovative approaches to rebuilding cities in Ukraine
 Later, UNECE mobilized international architects to help the city of
Mykolaiv develop a forward-looking, people-centred master plan
for building back better
UNECE support to Ukraine
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8. UNECE Executive Secretary Olga Algayerova, 18 November 2022
 “UNECE cooperates closely with Ukraine on many fronts: from housing and land management,
environmental protection, public-private partnerships, trade facilitation and digitalization of trade and
transport to innovation and the transition to a circular economy. We are committed to continuing and
deepening our work and collaboration in support of Ukraine’s innovation-led sustainable recovery and
reconstruction.”
 Support to address fuel shortages in the agriculture sector, by FAO, UNECE and UNEP
 Multi-stakeholder Dialogue – Untapped Bioenergy
Potential of Ukraine: Comprehensive View of
Proper Use. Issues of Energy Security and Food
Security, 31 March 2023
UNECE support to Ukraine
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9. Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents
Ukraine acceded in 2022
 Hosting of an extraordinary inter-agency coordination meeting on the industrial threats facing
Ukraine and opportunities for cooperation in prevention and preparedness efforts, 9 March 2022
 Attended by representatives of ICRC, ILO, OECD, UNEP/OCHA Joint Environment Unit, UNDRR, UNEP, UNIDO,
UNITAR, WHO and the UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine.
 Main goal was to exchange information about chemical & industrial facilities & hotspots in Ukraine, and each
organization’s on-going and planned activities in Ukraine, and to discuss possibilities to prevent & mitigate the
consequences of war-related releases of chemical & hazardous substances
 Input to phase 2 of Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment on “Emergency Response and Civil
Protection”
 Analysis of the Ukrainian industrial safety legislation with recommendations on its alignment with
the main requirements of the Convention and a roadmap for full implementation, July-Dec. 2023
 Support to enhance the safety of hazardous facilities, such as tailing management facilities (e.g., in
Kalush area), strengthen capacities to prevent and be better prepared for industrial accidents, and
enhance transboundary cooperation – subject to funding
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Industrial Accidents Convention

10. Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to
Justice in Environmental Matters
 Support by the Compliance Committee to follow through on a decision by the Meeting of the Parties
to the Aarhus Convention on full implementation of the Convention, by Oct. 2024
 Advice by the Compliance Committee on the ways and means of respecting the rights provided
to the public under the Convention during hostilities, near final
 Support by the Compliance Committee of the Convention’s Protocol on Pollutant Release and
Transfer Registers (PRTRs) on required legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks and
appropriate structure and management procedure for PRTR
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Aarhus Convention

11. Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution
 Support to Ukraine (and four other countries) to design clean air policies, which would be
demonstrated by modernized air quality management and assessment systems, improved quality
of emission inventories, the implementation of new pollution abatement measures and awareness
of stakeholders, 2024-2028
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Air Convention

12. Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context
 Ukraine and Romania signed Agreement on the Implementation of the Espoo Convention,
November 2022
 establishes a joint commission for implementing its provisions as a forum for information exchange and advice,
consultations and dispute settlement.
 special emphasis on the Carpathian region and the transboundary river basins, including the Danube Delta, shared by the
two countries
 UNECE assistance to Ukraine is being funded within the “European Union for Environment”
(EU4Environment) programme in the Eastern Partnership countries, 2019-2023
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Espoo Convention

13. Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
 Support to Ukraine in facilitation of the development of new GEF projects in transboundary basins,
such as the Dniester and the Bug, focused on development and implementation of the river basin
management plans and transboundary cooperation, 2022-2024
 River basin management plans can serve as a planning tool for recovery and rehabilitation required
due to the war’s impacts
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Water Convention

14. Thank you!
https://unece.org/environmental-
policy/environmental-performance-reviews/Ukraine