How the ecological recovery of Ukraine should take place with the support of the international community
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Mass horrific destruction and destruction continues to occur during the Russian military aggression in Ukraine. Russian attacks destroy residential buildings, schools, hospitals, energy and water infrastructure, factories and enterprises, forest, steppe, water and marine ecosystems. Irresponsible and reckless actions at nuclear power plants pose a huge risk and damage to both people and the natural environment. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, one third of Ukrainian forests were affected by the war; 20% of nature conservation areas of Ukraine have been adversely affected; 35% of Europe’s biodiversity, which Ukraine owns, is under threat; Russia occupied 740 Ukrainian deposits; approximately 30% of the territory of Ukraine is contaminated with explosive remnants of war; emissions of greenhouse gases as a result of the war amount to at least 33 million tons of CO2 eq. I already mentioned this in the previous article “The Russian Federation must respond and pay compensation to Ukraine for crimes against the environment.” On the night of June 6, Russia blew up the Kakhovskaya HPP dam, which caused large-scale flooding of cities and territories. It was another act of ecocide by the Russian Federation. As a result of the criminal actions of the aggressor, entire ecosystems were damaged, habitats were disturbed and wild, domestic and domestic animals were likely to die, the waters of the Dnipro and the Black Sea were polluted, the water supply was disrupted, a part of the population remained without access to drinking water, the waterlogging of drained lands and the change of climatic regime of the region. The formation of a new desert is possible as a result of the opening of the sandy bottom with accompanying climatic consequences, such as a decrease in precipitation, the appearance of dust storms, as well as a general rise in temperature in the region, which will create a risk of drought in the fields of central and southern Ukraine. War crimes investigations are being conducted and will be conducted with the aim of bringing the perpetrators to justice. However, less international attention has been paid to actions with massive, long-term and serious environmental impacts. Unfortunately, environmental crimes are not yet described as mass atrocities, the environment is still the “silent” victim and the damage is portrayed as “slow violence”. What steps does the state take to overcome negative environmental consequences? Ukraine is one of the few countries in the world that has included “ecocide” in the Criminal Code, and as a state has taken the initiative to put an end to impunity for large-scale environmental crime. To date, more than 1,000 facts of attacks that directly harmed the environment have been officially registered. The General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine carries out procedural control in 12 criminal proceedings under Article 441 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (ecocide). The Prosecutor General’s Office, ministries, scientists, environmentalists and lawyers invest a lot of effort in large-scale investigations of the damage caused. What international support is needed to recognize ecocide? Strong international support is needed to strengthen this work. The International Criminal Court (ICC) with jurisdiction in Ukraine plays an important role. The Rome Statute contains a war crimes provision that specifically protects the natural environment – Article 8 (2) (b) (iv). It is time to prioritize such cases in accordance with the 2016 document of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court – Case Selection and Prioritization Policy. A new mechanism is being created to hold Russia accountable for crimes of aggression. Since Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, trying to prosecute them for the crime of aggression will prove to be a difficult, if not impossible, task. Therefore, a Special Tribunal is needed to try Russia for this crime. This new organization must recognize ecocide as one of the main crimes committed by Russia, something that Ukraine constantly insists on. What steps must be taken to restore Ukraine? Russia must pay for the restoration of Ukraine in both the short and long term. Local authorities will need support to plan environmentally sustainable recovery in a way that reduces dependence on fossil fuels and reduces harmful pollution, making appropriate use of opportunities for renewable energy, energy efficiency and modern technological solutions. Some areas will need to be preserved to allow nature to recover, while others will need to be actively managed. For example, if a fire destroys an area of ancient forest, it will take more than a hundred years for the area to return to its natural state. One of the biggest problems is the ecosystems of the Black and Azov Seas, where scientists record data on changes in animal migration routes and the death of a huge number of cetaceans. We do not know whether they will return to the pre-war territories and whether the populations of migratory animals will recover. Moreover, some endemic species that exist only in the south of Ukraine may be lost forever. If we lose these species, it will be a loss not only for Ukraine, but also for the entire planet. Therefore, ending impunity for ecocide in Ukraine is not just a matter of Ukraine. This is a strong signal that serious environmental damage is unacceptable in any war zone. If we succeed now, it would be a turning point for international environmental law. Yulia Ovchinnikova, People’s Deputy of Ukraine, head of the subcommittee of the Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management, member of the Committee on Social Issues, Health Protection and Sustainable Development of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), candidate of biological sciences in ecology, member of the International Parliamentary Alliance for Recognition ecocide Simon Holmström, Member of Parliament of the Åland Islands (Finland), delegate of the Nordic Council, delegate at various international conferences, such as the Assembly of ERC member states and UN environmental summits, member of the International Parliamentary Alliance for the Recognition of Ecocide. Publications in the “View” section are not editorial articles and reflect exclusively the author’s point of view.
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