Finland, Ukraine to boost environmental, energy cooperation

Minister of Climate and the Environment of Finland Kai Mykkänen and Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Svitlana Hrynchuk on Saturday agreed on stronger cooperation in the forest, nature, meteorology and energy sectors.

Speaking at a high-level conference in Helsinki the ministers focused on environmental security in war-ravaged Ukraine, said the Ministry of the Environment in a press release.

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has caused significant environmental damages, led to enormous pollution, disrupted ecosystems and destroyed biodiversity in an unprecedented way, the speakers observed.

Mykkänen and Hrynchuk in their bilateral discussions in connection with the conference agreed on stronger cooperation in the environmental and energy sectors.

“We need to be strong and united to hold Russia fully accountable for the environmental damages in Ukraine, and extensive cooperation will be needed for sustainable reconstruction of the country. Finland can offer a lot of expertise for monitoring the state of the environment and assessing the damages, and we can support Ukraine in the clean energy transition. Sustainable reconstruction means an opportunity to also replace the old building stock with more energy-efficient solutions,” said Mykkänen.

Finland has already launched significant environmental projects in Ukraine, which has also attracted commercial interest in Finnish technologies.

The conference on Environmental Security was part of the series of thematic meetings organised on all of the ten points of the Peace Formula presented by President Zelenskyy in 2022.

Finland serves as the co-chair of the point concerning Environmental Security together with Germany and Bulgaria.

The Joint Communique on strengthening environmental security in Ukraine published in connection with the conference stressed that it is important to assess and repair the damages caused by the war and that those guilty of crimes must be held accountable.

The objective of the conference was to promote the reconstruction of Ukraine in accordance with the principles of sustainable development and the green transition.

The conference was opened by Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo and his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal.

The meeting was attended by representatives from over 50 countries.