Why is Greenpeace working on the green reconstruction of Ukraine?

‍Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has initiated collaboration with environmental groups in Ukraine to build partnerships with the aim of green reconstruction of cities and villages destroyed by the war in Ukraine. To showcase some of the available technologies, the green reconstruction of Horenka Hospital has been completed with Greenpeace support. With this pilot project, Greenpeace would like to encourage European cities to establish similar partnerships with Ukrainian municipalities to rebuild Ukraine sustainably. Green reconstruction projects equally benefit the people and the environment. 

What is Ukraine green and sustainable recovery?

At the 2022 G7 summit, a joint declaration stated that, despite the ongoing war, reconstruction of Ukraine must start in order to be ready for the task in the long term.The most promising sectors of municipal infrastructure for which the window of opportunity to become “greener” while reconstructing is open now are: energy, transport, water treatment and supply, and waste management. Projects in energy efficiency and renewable energy for municipal sector infrastructure are already bankable. They help to increase resilience of communities in war time during power outages and lead to decentralisation. Ukraine has built more onshore wind turbines in the past year than England despite the ongoing war, and it is ready to continue using renewable energy sources for its recovery.In March 2023, President von der Leyen launched a project called ‘Ray of hope’ donating 5,700 solar photovoltaic panels to Ukraine.In May, a German-Ukrainian energy partnership was launched with a focus on green renewable energy and energy recovery in Ukraine.The Ukrainian parliament is expected to adopt a law designed to restore and develop green transformation of Ukraine’s energy system. The respective draft law #9011-d has passed the first hearing in May and is expected for second hearing and signing into law by president Zelenskyi in July.

Are you planning to do more green reconstruction projects in Ukraine and pay for them?

‍We plan to support Ukrainian municipalities with our knowledge of green reconstruction. We aim to support the development of local green reconstruction plans for the damaged or destroyed infrastructure and help municipalities to find financing opportunities by linking them up with international partners, such as municipalities in Europe.