Finland supports green reconstruction in Ukraine

Finland is supporting the acute needs of Ukraine’s energy sector and green reconstruction through the new Green Recovery Programme with a total of EUR 5 million, said the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in a press release on Friday.

Russian attacks have damaged Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and have already destroyed some 40% of it.

As a result of the war, 7.8 million Ukrainians have fled to Europe and there are 6.5 million internally displaced persons. About 16 million Ukrainians need help with water, sanitation and hygiene.

Finland is responding to the Ukrainians’ distress and channelling funding through the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (Nefco) for repairs, renovation and reconstruction of schools, daycare centres, housing services, health services and other critical infrastructure.

The Nefco Green Recovery Programme for Ukraine provides Ukrainian municipalities with funding and technical support for projects that will support the country’s recovery from the war and humanitarian crisis towards a longer-term green transition.

“A large proportion of internally displaced persons are being housed in public buildings, so it is important to secure their water supply, heating and lighting in order to respond to people’s distress,” said Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.

The Green Recovery Programme is supporting Ukraine to introduce modern and energy-efficient solutions. In the longer term, it supports Ukraine’s green transition by reducing the use of fossil fuels.

“It is very important that the repairs and reconstruction also take into account gender equality and people with disabilities. According to the UN, one in four internally displaced families has a disabled family member – they too must have access to civil defence shelters and public buildings,” the minister said.

The Nefco Green Recovery Programme for Ukraine is a multi-donor programme comprising of individual initiatives from various contributors. It was launched in July 2022. The EU, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland are the programme’s first contributors.