Ukraine officially opened the Pavilion at the UN COP28 conference in Dubai
On Sunday, December 3, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ruslan Strilets officially opened the work of the national Pavilion at the UN Climate Change Conference COP28 in Dubai, its goal being to showcase Ukraine’s resilience and fight. Fighting the enemy. Fighting the climate crisis. The Minister said this in a video address to the visitors of the pavilion.
“This year, we are talking about the catastrophic consequences of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant explosion. We are talking about our struggle against environmental challenges due to the war. As if in spite of everything. Even today. We are working on green reconstruction. I hope that next year at the COP we will talk only about climate achievements and green recovery of the country. We invite the world to come to its senses and support the President’s Peace Formula and its 10 universal rules for the entire planet. I thank the entire team and partners that Ukraine has its own pavilion at the conference for the second time. I am confident that it will become a powerful platform for quality communication with all countries of the world to engage them in our initiatives,” Minister Ruslan Strilets addressed the COP28 participants.
According to Deputy Minister Viktoriia Kyreieva, this year Ukraine has increased its influence at the annual COP conference and, in addition to the exposition itself, has a space for negotiations in the pavilion.
“The COP is the largest climate conference, first of all, and not only climate issues are resolved here, but also political positions of countries are defended. It is important for Ukraine to demonstrate that we are an active player in the climate agenda and to engage countries in partnership and support for our sovereignty and our green climate course.”
Lennard de Klerk, an expert on war-related emissions, announced the presentation of the third report on the impact of the Russian war on the climate on the sidelines of the conference. He noted that Russia continues to destroy the Ukrainian environment. Forests and natural ecosystems are suffering from fires and hostilities. As a result, greenhouse gas emissions are only increasing. That is why the world must do everything to make Russia accountable for these emissions and compensate Ukraine.
Svitlana Sushko, Head of the Reform Support Team at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, emphasized that behind every statistical figure in the news are the fates of people: “We have brought a piece of Ukraine to COP28, a piece of a Ukrainian home that was destroyed by war – the roof of a flooded house from the area affected by the Kakhovka dam explosion – to tell the world the stories of Ukrainians’ lives. We are grateful to all partners and donors, the public, experts, scholars and professionals who brought the ideas to life, for their joint efforts that made the opening of the Ukraine Pavilion at the COP28 possible today.”
The opening ceremony was also attended by Oleksiy Ryabchyn, Ukraine’s COP negotiator since 2015, and Vasylina Belyo, Head of Climate Department at the Ecodiya Center for Environmental Initiatives.
The Ukrainian pavilion at COP28 was developed by the teams of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine with the support and assistance of the European Union, the German Federal Government, IKI, the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Ukraine, the UN Global Compact, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (Recovery Program and Architecture for Reforms in Ukraine), and DTEK Group, the largest private investor in the Ukrainian energy sector. The concept of the pavilion was developed by Gres Todorchuk agency in cooperation with FORMA architectural office and how.production, a Ukrainian production agency.
The Ukrainian pavilion at COP28 will be open in Dubai until December 12.
As a reminder, on Saturday, December 2, Slovak President Zuzana Chaputova expressed her support for Ukraine and visited the national pavilion at the COP28 climate conference.
