President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with members of the High-Level Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of the War, co-chaired by former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Margot Wallström and the Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak.
From the High-Level Working Group, the meeting was also attended by Vice President of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius, former member of the Åland Parliament Simon Holmström, and Member of Parliament of Sweden Rebecka Le Moine.
On the Ukrainian side, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets, Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin, advisors to the President's Office Daria Zarivna and Oleksandr Bevz participated in the event.
Welcoming the delegation to Kyiv, the President thanked the experts for their work in the important direction of environmental protection, which has suffered significant damage due to Russian aggression. In particular, he noted the development of mechanisms to overcome the consequences of war for the environment.
The Head of State highly appreciated the Environmental Compact for Ukraine, developed by the High-Level Working Group, the presentation of which took place today. He emphasized that this document is important in light of implementing the eighth point of the Ukrainian Peace Formula on environmental security.
"I'm sincerely grateful to you and all representatives of the high-level working group for addressing such an important challenge for Ukraine – the environmental consequences of this war. I am extremely grateful for the results of your work on this track, for the preparation of this document," said Volodymyr Zelenskyy, adding that the provisions of the Compact will lay the groundwork for further steps towards environmental protection.
"As you know, we are preparing for the first peace summit based on our Peace Formula in Switzerland, and environmental issues – point eight in this Formula. I believe this document will help all participating countries, along with us, implement the track of environmental protection and restoration collaboratively," said the Head of State.
Co-chair of the Working Group, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Margot Wallström handed over the Environmental Compact for Ukraine to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which contains 50 recommendations. She is convinced that these recommendations will help Ukraine and its citizens in correctly collecting and preparing evidence for opening criminal proceedings and in the future – in obtaining reparations for environmental damage, in proper demining of territories, in ecological recovery, and in rebuilding the country to be environmentally friendly.
Margot Wallström thanked Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the trust in such an important matter. She also expressed gratitude to representatives of the President's Office, the government, the Prosecutor General's Office, and relevant experts for their assistance in fulfilling the tasks assigned to the group regarding studying the scale of environmental damage caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine, working on possible measures for justice, developing recommendations for green reconstruction and recovery.
"The international community must understand Ukraine's needs; it must understand that financing and assistance with expertise and other matters will be required. Regarding implementation, we will gladly assist in turning this into reality," said the former Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden.
Andriy Yermak, for his part, stated that the developed document sets a fundamentally new standard in approaches to assessing the consequences of armed conflicts and standards for assessing the impact of war on the environment.
The head of the President's Office also added that these recommendations will serve as the basis for presenting actions in similar situations at the first Global Peace Summit for the entire world, enabling the assessment of damages and obtaining reparations for environmental damage.
Margot Wallström added that members of the High-Level Working Group can be advocates for Ukraine worldwide and demonstrate examples of what can be done to restore the environment in the future.
"There are currently no standards to accurately measure the impact of war on the environment. I sincerely believe that the legal aspect is very important. You will be able to show an example of how justice and, hopefully, reparations can be ensured for these crimes," the co-chair of the High-Level Working Group said.