*[Enwl-eng] UWEC Work Group Issue # 29

[ecology]

Excluding combat, military operations around the world today account for 
5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

                        Excluding combat, military operations around the 
world today account for 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.


                                Excluding combat, military operations around 
the world today account for 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.








                                Dear friends!


                                Excluding combat, military operations around 
the world today account for 5.5% of global emissions. As Nina Lakhani wrote 
in an article published in the Guardian, if the world’s militaries were a 
separate country, their total carbon footprint would exceed Russia’s total 
emissions. Calculating the total emissions caused by wars and armed 
conflicts is currently impossible. After all, this not only includes combat 
operations, but infrastructure restoration. At the same time, new sources of 
pollution are constantly appearing, such as the fiber optics used by FPV 
drones. Read more about this and much more in our review:


                                a.. Environmental consequences of the war in 
Ukraine: May – June 2025 review

                                Armed conflicts also have indirect 
consequences. One of the most high-profile this year was the Decemvber 2024 
fuel oil spill in the Black Sea when river fuel tankers servicing a Russian 
“shadow fleet” vessel sank. The UWEC Work Group previously analyzed in 
detail both the environmental consequences of the disaster and its causes. A 
new study by UWEC experts explores the international response. Ukrainian 
lands were significantly polluted due to the accident, in both occupied and 
free areas. Ukraine’s representatives have demanded that the Russian 
government be held accountable and punished, but the reaction of 
international organizations has been underwhelming. At the same time, the 
spill’s instigator has received international support to eliminate the 
consequences of the disaster.


                                a.. International reaction to the Kerch 
Strait oil spill

                                Another example of pollution not directly 
related to military action is the improper closure of coal mines in the 
Donbas region, most of which is occupied by Russian troops. Water fills the 
mines, not only causing heavy metal pollution, but also severe drought in 
the Donetsk region. Contributor Inha Pavliy investigates how the Ukrainian 
coal industry has been affected by the war and the consequences for the 
environment.


                                a.. Black legacy: How war is turning Ukraine’s 
coal mines into time bombs

                                Evidence that the occupied territories are 
facing an ecological catastrophe appears almost every day. For example, this 
summer the Black Sea Biosphere Reserve burned, with a devastating fire in 
Yahorlytsky Kut, a unique steppe ecosystem home to rare steppe bird species.

                                Founded in 1927, the reserve is a 
combination of high conservation value steppe, wetlands, forests, water 
areas and islands. It was one of the first in the Soviet Union to be 
included in the international UNESCO network of biosphere reserves in 1979. 
Russian forces occupied the reserve in the first months of its full-scale 
invasion. The largest fire there to date occurred recently, a few days after 
the Russian Federation announced the creation of the Federal State Budgetary 
Institution Black Sea Reserve, a “Russian” analogue of the Ukrainian nature 
reserve.


                                a.. Biosphere reserve burns at the start of 
the occupation administration’s work

                                Despite the many challenges (including 
environmental ones) in “controlled” territories, Russia continues its 
international demarche. On July 22, Russia’s State Duma (representative body 
of the Russian government) denounced the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The 
Convention on Wetlands was adopted in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran to protect 
wetlands and the habitats of migratory waterfowl. The USSR ratified it in 
1979. Withdrawal from the convention threatens 35 nature conservation areas 
covering an area of over 10 million hectares that were protected by this 
agreement. Expert Eugene Simonov studies the possible reasons for withdrawal 
and the consequences for the environment:

                                a.. Russia exits Ramsar Convention on 
Wetlands

                                War deals crushing blows to nature every 
day, and political crises only worsen the situation. The term “ecocide” is 
increasingly frequently mentioned in both the media and everyday 
conversation. What does ecocide mean for Ukrainians? Is it only a legal term 
or something more? It can also be a personal and collective experience that 
contemplates the destruction of native nature. UWEC Work Group reviewed 
Darya Tsymbalyuk’s book “Ecocide in Ukraine: Ecological Price of War in 
Russia”:


                                a.. Review: Ecocide in Ukraine. The 
Environmental Cost of Russia’s War


                                Meanwhile, Ukraine continues planning the 
nation’s “green recovery” when the war ends. On June 30, the Ministry of 
Environment and Natural Resources presented the first draft of a legislative 
bill “On the Fundamentals of the Green Recovery of Ukraine.Ukraine’s green 
recovery: legislative step toward eco-integration in reconstructio”.


                                a.. Ukraine’s green recovery: legislative 
step toward eco-integration in reconstruction

                                Ukraine’s “green recovery” will be a long 
journey. In addition to external factors, there are also internal ones, in 
particular, the government moved to restructure and effectively abolish the 
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in July. UWEC Work Group will 
be tracking these developments and how they may affect environmental 
problem-solving in both Ukraine and the larger region and what opportunities 
environmental organizations may identify. Find updates on our website and in 
social networks: Facebook, X (Twitter), Telegram, BlueSky.


                                Friends, we publish our research and 
materials at no cost in the public domain so that everyone can read about 
the environmental consequences of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 
We also actively work with journalists and other media. The Guardian 
recently interviewed our experts in an article about the prospects for 
Velyky Luh’s environmental recovery following the Kakhovka dam’s 
destruction. This allows us to disseminate information about the 
environmental consequences of war as widely as possible to a global 
audience, which is our mission.


                                We need your support to continue our 
high-quality publications. We invite you to make a one-time or recurring 
contribution to our work.


                                Support UWEC Work Group


                                We wish you strength, peace and good news!


                                Alexej Ovchinnikov, editor in chief, UWEC 
Work Group


















            UWEC · Charnali, 2 · Charnali 6400 · Georgia





From: UWEC Work Group <issue at uwecworkgroup.info>
Date: пн, 4 авг. 2025 г. в 08:42
Subject: UWEC Work Group Issue # 29


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