‘First and foremost, our national pavilion at this event is an opportunity to show the international community the environmental consequences of large-scale war and to demonstrate Ukraine’s continued commitment to its climate obligations and green recovery and European integration,’ emphasised the head of the State Forestry Agency.
He added that Ukraine will offer its international partners the chance to participate in a number of projects at COP30.
Primarily, these will be demining projects, as this is the number one issue. Around 500,000 hectares of forest have been mined so far, but this figure is constantly changing as the fighting continues. We will invite our partners to join us in demining using modern technologies. Ukraine is recognised as one of the most mined countries in the world, but we cannot wait decades for demining to be completed,” said Viktor Smal.
He also mentioned that Brazil will discuss preserving Ukraine’s self-forested areas and attracting finance to the forestry sector.
The head of the State Forestry Agency emphasised that Ukraine will be represented at the COP this year in a new capacity, having received this status from the European Commission in May.
“This is recognition of the success of our forestry sector reforms, particularly the ongoing institutional reform. However, we have already achieved positive changes,” said Viktor Smal.
Forests and biodiversity are two of the key themes at COP30. The preservation of these is a shared priority for Brazil, the host of this year’s climate conference, and Ukraine.
Brazil is home to two of the world’s largest tropical forests: the Amazon and the Atlantic. Over 460 million hectares of the country’s territory, more than half of which is covered by forests.
Brazil also accounts for 15–20% of the world’s biodiversity.
Prior to the war, more than 15% of Ukraine (over 10 million hectares) was covered by forests. s. As a result of Russia’s aggression, approximately 3 million hectares of Ukrainian forests have now been destroyed or damaged. This has reduced our greenhouse gas absorption capacity by 1.7 million tonnes.
Ukraine is also home to 35% of Europe’s biodiversity. However, due to the war, around 600 animal species and approximately 750 plant and fungi species listed in the Red Book of Ukraine are now under threat of destruction or have already been damaged.
The impact of the war on forests and biodiversity will be reflected in the Ukrainian pavilion at COP30. During the conference ‘Ukraine’s Climate Achievements – On the Road to COP30’, the head of the State Forestry Agency, Viktor Smal, announced what Ukraine will offer its international partners in preparation for this event.
In particular, the industry’s achievements include:
- Almost 400 forestry enterprises in Ukraine are united within the framework of the largest forest enterprise in Europe, the State Enterprise ‘Forests of Ukraine’. The process of corporatisation and transformation into a joint-stock company has begun, opening up new opportunities for cooperation with international partners.
- The territorial bodies of the State Forestry Agency have been reformed and their functions have changed radically. The number of territorial bodies has been reduced from 24 to nine, and they have lost their economic function, retaining only a supervisory role.
- The mechanism for trading timber has changed from direct contracts between businesses and forestry enterprises, which were often subject to abuse, to trading on exchanges. Consequently, in 2014, forestry enterprises paid $127 million to budgets at all levels; after the reform, however, they paid $132 million in the first half of 2025 alone.
‘I think our colleagues at COP30 will be interested in Ukraine’s experience because there is currently no other example in the world of a forestry sector showing positive dynamics year after year during a full-scale war,’ concluded Viktor Smal.