Climate finance for Ukraine’s economic competitiveness and recovery
Why should Ukraine work to build a clean and circular economy in the face of full-scale Russian aggression? Where will the money come from? How can we build effective cooperation between the public and private sectors to achieve climate goals? These were the topics discussed at the panel discussion Climate Finance for Ukraine’s Economic Competitiveness and Recovery, which took place at the Ukrainian Pavilion at JCOMM on 15 November.
Every day in Ukraine we receive information about the victims and the destruction,” said Oleksandr Kava, Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine, opening the discussion, “but despite this we are thinking about the future. Ukraine, said Mr Kava, is rebuilding the infrastructure destroyed by the Russians to make it better and greener than it was. New standards are being introduced to replace outdated Soviet standards in industry, energy, transport and other areas.
Ivana Živković, UNDP Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, stressed that one-fifth of European financial assistance to Ukraine is earmarked for climate change mitigation projects and initiatives. She also noted Ukraine’s significant potential and welcomed the adoption of the Climate Change Act, which sets the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
NATO’s Assistant Secretary-General for Innovation, Jean-Charles Kingombe-Hellerman, focused on how to help Ukraine protect its energy infrastructure from the Russians. This includes military electronic warfare and air defence systems, which Mr Kingombe-Hellerman said NATO should focus on and provide all necessary assistance. The diplomat also noted that Ukraine has already begun to decentralise its energy system and is increasingly relying on renewable energy sources, which increases energy security.
Philippe Offenberg, European director of Breakthrough Energy, agrees. He believes that Ukraine has ‘enormous potential’ for wind and solar energy.
Among the panellists was Finland’s ambassador to Azerbaijan. Kirsti Narinen. She noted that the Russians are deliberately bombing Ukraine’s energy infrastructure to undermine confidence in the government and the resilience of the Ukrainian people.
The second part of the discussion focused on how to attract private investment in Ukraine’s green recovery.
This is not easy, the panellists acknowledged, but the example of Vestas Wind Systems can be illustrative, said its Vice President Morten Dyrholm. He spoke of an agreement to implement a wind energy project with a total capacity of 500 megawatts. But it took us a whole year to implement the financial part of the project. It is difficult, but we have shown it is possible,’ said Mr Dyrholm.
Andrew Steer, President of the Bezos Earth Fund, and Andrew McDowell, CEO of the European Investment Bank, also participated in the discussion and spoke about the involvement of philanthropists in supporting Ukraine.
At the end of the discussion, Gert Jan Koopman, Director General of the European Commission’s DG NEAR programme, said that a new initiative had been launched in Warsaw to help structure private initiatives and find funding for them.
To attract investment in Ukraine’s development, the government is working to improve conditions and reduce risks for potential investors, said Oleksandr Kava, Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine. For example, changes to tax legislation are being considered. A mechanism is also being developed whereby the state will cover part of the infrastructure costs for projects costing more than $30 million. Programmes are being prepared to make loans more affordable for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Viktoria Kyreieva, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, said not only the state and business but also civil society and scientists should be involved in reconstruction. She noted that international support will help Ukraine implement its ambitious climate change plans.
