Ukraine will create a climate office with the support of Germany and the EU. This initiative was announced at the COP27 by Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ruslan Strilets.

"Ukraine has not abandoned its commitments to the international community, including with regard to climate policy. Just as before the full-scale invasion, Ukraine seeks to contribute to the implementation of the European Green Deal. We strive to achieve climate neutrality, although now we will have to make even more efforts. However, we have not abandoned our intention to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2030. We have transformed our climate ambitions into specific goals and specified them in the Recovery Plan of Ukraine, which was presented in Lugano in July this year," Ruslan Strelets said.

The Ukrainian Climate Office will function within the framework of the BMWK/EU international technical assistance project "Capacity Building for Climate Action", which was officially launched today at the COP27.

The project will be co-financed by the European Union and the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). The goal is to provide real assistance to Ukraine in achieving its climate goals on the path to decarbonization.

According to Ruslan Strilets, the Climate Office will provide support to the Government of Ukraine, cities, and regions, as well as enterprises and businesses to implement components of climate policy.

The Climate Office will help with the decarbonization of economic sectors, building adaptive governance, expanding opportunities for youth and regions on the path to the EU Green Deal, and implementing the provisions of the Paris Agreement.

One of the priority activities of the Office will be the development and support of special approaches to climate funding for Ukraine.

"The establishment of the Ukrainian Climate Office is an excellent example of support to Ukraine from our long-standing and reliable partners - the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action of Germany and the EU, which will be implemented by GIZ. I invite all countries that seek to contribute to overcoming global warming to cooperate within this initiative," the Minister said.

It is worth reminding that according to the latest estimates of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine and international experts, additional greenhouse gas emissions caused by military operations on the territory of Ukraine amounted to about 33 million tonnes of CO2.

The largest share of these emissions falls on fires - more than 23 million tonnes of CO2.

80% of fires occur in areas where military operations were conducted or are currently underway.

According to preliminary estimates, the reconstruction will account for about 49 million tonnes of emissions.