The draft Environmental Declaration was discussed by Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets with international colleagues in the Ukrainian pavilion on the sidelines of the COP28.

The Environmental Declaration was first presented in Kyiv during the United for Justice, United for Nature forum. It is a continuation of the platform announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the previous COP27. Its creation is part of the action plan to implement Point 8 of the Peace Formula to stop ecocide and to recover reparations from the aggressor for the destroyed environment.

"We want this international platform to bring together everyone - from countries to international organisations, individual politicians and experts. Anyone who wants to work together to calculate environmental damage and bring those responsible to justice," said Ruslan Strilets.

Moldova, Bulgaria, Sweden and the Czech Republic, Italy, New Zealand, etc. have already expressed their preliminary readiness to join this work.

The Minister expressed hope that as many countries as possible would join the Declaration and contribute to joint efforts to protect the environment from military operations.

"russian missiles may not reach your country, but birds from Ukraine do. Their number is decreasing every day due to the large-scale destruction of nature reserves, forest fires and the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station dam. The oil and chemicals that got into Ukrainian rivers may remain in the Black Sea. But you will not be able to control the origin of the food and fish your children eat for dinner. If we don't act together now, we all risk replacing marine life with mines, missiles and their fragments tomorrow," Ruslan Strilets stressed.