An environmental treaty for Ukraine: International working group agrees and presents document

The International Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of War, co-chaired by the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden Margot Wallström, presented an Environmental Treaty for Ukraine at a meeting in Kyiv. This was reported by the press service of the President's Office, according to UNN.

"Today we are talking about the results, which involve many well-known people and experts. For the first time in history, Ukraine is not just thinking together with you, but developing a concrete action plan on how to compensate for all the damage caused to our environment by this war. 

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Andriy Yermak thanked the representatives of the International Working Group for their effective work on the preparation of the Environmental Agreement for Ukraine. He expressed his belief that this document will become the basis for specific decisions of the Global Peace Summit at the level of state leaders.

Our intention is that the proposed solutions will be incorporated into a joint plan to rebuild Ukraine and address environmental issues. 

The Head of the President's Office emphasized that the work of the International Working Group contains specific recommendations that can be implemented in Ukraine right now. They also contain "recipes for the future" that will help prevent similar situations in other countries.

We are ready to make every effort to continue this work, to work on implementing solutions, to see what can be done in Ukraine. We are ready to cooperate with our international partners, including the European Union. 

First Vice Prime Minister and Minister Yulia Svyrydenko added that the Environmental Treaty will contribute to the rebuilding of Ukraine as an ecological and green state.

We cannot wait until the war is over. We need to focus our efforts on environmental issues now. And we need to promote these ideas more widely in society. 

Yulia Svyrydenko also reported on the humanitarian demining strategy, which is in its final stages of development. She announced that the strategy is likely to be presented this year in Geneva, where a conference on mine action will be held.

According to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, who also took part in the meeting, there are 55,000 more hectares of agricultural land to be acquired, and he noted that the Ministry's work in this area is ongoing.

The European Union Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virgijunius Sinkevičius, noted that the Environmental Treaty should help in the quality collection of evidence of environmental damage caused by the war and in the preparation of the case at the Special Tribunal for the aggressor country.

If Russia pays for all the damage it has done, the work we have done will not have been in vain. 

The EU Commissioner also expressed the opinion that the Environmental Treaty will contribute to Ukraine's further integration into the EU and the reconstruction of our country.

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According to the OP, the meeting where the Environmental Treaty for Ukraine was presented  was attended by Heidi Gautala, Vice President of the European Parliament and former Minister of International Development of Finland, Virginius Sinkevicius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Rebecca Le Moyne, Member of the Swedish Parliament, Simon Holmström, former Member of the Parliament of the Åland Islands, member of the Ecocide Alliance.

On the Ukrainian side, the meeting was attended by First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko, Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets, Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko, and advisors to the Head of the Presidential Office Daria Zarivna and Oleksandr Bevz.