The war in Ukraine has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed homes and created millions of refugees, as well as causing serious environmental damage, Ukrainian Environment Minister Svitlana Hryntchuk told the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku.
The environmental damage caused by military operations following Russia’s large-scale invasion in February 2022 is estimated at $71 billion, Hryntchuk said on Tuesday.
In addition, another 180 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) have been released into the atmosphere due to shelling and forest fires, she said.
According to the minister, about 3 million hectares of forest have been destroyed by the war, while about 139,000 square kilometers of Ukraine has been contaminated with explosive residues.
“More than 6 million Ukrainians were forced to take temporary refuge in several European countries, resulting in an additional 3.3 million tons of CO2 emissions,” she said.
The CO2 emissions figures are consistent with a study conducted in June by a Ukrainian non-governmental organization, which found that CO2 emissions in the first 24 months since the start of the large-scale invasion amounted to 175 million tons .
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday marked the 1,000th day of Russia’s war and called for greater efforts to push Moscow toward “a just peace.”
Developing countries are collectively demanding that industrialized countries mobilize at least $1.3 billion annually in climate finance during the talks in Azerbaijan – 13 times more than the current amount. The two-week UN summit ends on November 22.
