- It's been a year since Russia invaded Ukraine, and the environmental costs of that war are high.
- Environmentalists in Ukraine want the country to start green investment soon.
This article, part of Insider's weekly sustainability newsletter, was written by Tim Parady, senior editor at Future of Business. Please register here.
In December, Svitlana Krakowska, Ukraine's chief climatologist, was able to install solar panels on the roof of her building in Kyiv to power her family in the event of a power outage.
For Krakowska, the system she and her husband installed was well worth the two months they spent waiting for the equipment to arrive. It's not just about a more reliable power source, it's also about providing light for their youngest child, an 11-year-old boy with autism.
Krakow's son hates turning off the war lights. "I was so scared," Krakowska told Insider by phone from her office in Kyiv. Part of his son's fear, he said, stems from the hours he spent with other children in the shelter, which can get dark if the power goes out.
Solar panel resistance is now part of Krakow's hopes of emerging from a bitter war with Russia a year later. Rebuilding the green countryside will help people like Krakowskaia and others who share her 10-story building, which she says is half full because many residents have fled. In general, it is solar power and other renewable energy sources that will one day help the great country wean Ukraine off fossil fuels and stop at least some of the oil and gas flowing to the Kremlin.
While the conflict shows no signs of abating, it is imperative to act now to make a greener restart for the country, Yevnia Zasiadko, climate director of EcoAction, a non-profit environmental group in Kyiv, told Insider. Because unless smart planning takes place before the war ends, he said, Ukraine will not be ready when the war stops.
Finding ways to restore energy, transport, food and other infrastructure will become increasingly necessary as war itself adds to the problems of the global climate crisis. Jasiadko said, in the first seven months alone, the conflict released around 49 million tons of carbon dioxide. A country the size of Portugal produces in a year. And another demonstration comes months after the researchers put together their estimates.
Another reason to move forward with renewable energy is that it can provide immediate benefits, as happened for Krakowska and her family. He noted that Ukraine has a large solar installation, where the missiles can destroy some of the panels, while others are still functioning.
Jasiadko spoke of a project in a town near Kiev where solar panels and groundwater heating pumps were installed in a small clinic damaged by bombing. The result is an 80% reduction in heating costs and more reliable power to run the clinic.
Jasiadko said the war had made solving the climate crisis more urgent, not less. Before the Russian attack, the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels and take other steps was likely more than 10 to 15 years away, he said. "When the war started, we realized we had to do it now, we didn't have time," he said.
