Ukraine’s environment minister says the Russian aggression has caused more than 2,200 environmental damages and released large amounts of climate-warming gases.
Ukraine’s Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets held a press conference on Monday at the COP27 climate change conference in Egypt.
Strilets said the damage from soil and air pollution is about $36 billion. He also said the Russian strikes have emitted at least 33 million tons of greenhouse gases. He estimated that a further 49 million tonnes of emissions could be expected from reconstruction efforts. He added that Russia should be responsible for the emissions.
The minister called on Moscow to immediately stop the aggression. He said that war not only destroyed the environment, but also the future of our children.
Earlier on Monday, Strilets met with Japan’s Environment Minister Akihiro Nishimura and asked for help from Japan as it has a lot of experience in the environmental field.
Mr Nishimura said the Russian aggression is magnifying serious environmental impacts. He expressed his intention to develop bilateral cooperation in the field of environmental protection in Ukraine.
Japan and Ukraine will discuss concrete ways of cooperation, such as the disposal of debris left by the Russian attack.
