Press Releases Media advisory: Public Hearing on the Environmental Consequences of the War in Ukraine on Monday 27th November

Media advisory: Public Hearing on the Environmental Consequences of the War in Ukraine on Monday 27th November

Monday 27th November 2023, 14:00-16:00,
Spaak 5B1, European Parliament, Brussels

The High-Level Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of the War in Ukraine will hold a public hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels to highlight the devastating impact of the Russian aggression on Ukraine’s natural environment. The speakers at the hearing will include Ruslan Strilets, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, Andriy Kostin, Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Margot Wallstrom, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden and co-chair of the High-Level Working Group, and Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, among others.

The High-Level Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of the War in Ukraine, co-chaired by Wallstrom and Andriy Yermak, head of office of Ukraine’s President Zelensky, gathers senior figures from international policy and environmental activism, who are working on three main areas: assessment of environmental damage caused by the war, accountability for crimes against the environment and helping Ukraine with green recovery after the war.

This public hearing at the European parliament follows three meetings of the Working Group and a major international conference held in Kyiv last month.  The hearing will bring together representatives from the Ukrainian government, leading international experts, civil society representatives and European decision-makers to discuss the devastating environmental impacts of the war, accountability for environmental crimes, and to map ways towards Ukraine’s green recovery. The Public Hearing will provide input to the Working Group in drafting its recommendations to the international community and the Government of Ukraine.

The hearing will be open to journalists with preregistration and live streamed online.

The link will be forwarded to all those that have registered for the event, but will also be publicly accessible to anyone on the EP Multimedia Centre (https://multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/fr ). Please note that the web-streaming does NOT provide for any possibility of engagement (such as taking the floor or asking questions via chat) and only pre-registered journalists attending in person will be able to ask questions.

To register for the hearing please fill out the registration form at the following link by 21 November.

For more information on the agenda, speakers and interview requests, please contact Refik Hodzic at Refik.Hodzic@eip.org

Draft Agenda

Public Hearing of the High-Level Working Group

on the Environmental Consequences of the War in Ukraine

14.00-14.10 Opening

Welcome words, Heidi Hautala, Vice-President of the European Parliament

Introduction, Andriy Yermak, co-chair of the Working Group (online)

Introduction, Margot Wallström, co-chair of the Working Group

14:10–14:45 Part I: Damage Assessment and Accountability

Presentation: Consequences of the war on Ukraine’s environment, Ruslan Strilets, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources

Presentation: Crimes against the environment and ecocide, Andriy Kostin, Prosecutor General (online)

Expert testimony: Promoting accountability for environmental crimes, Carl Bruch

Comment from the European Commission, Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice (TBC)

Comments from MEPs, questions from WG members and discussion

14:55–15:10 Coffee Break

15:10–16:00 Part II: Green Recovery

Presentation: Ukraine’s green recovery, Yulia Svyrydenko, First Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Trade (TBC)

Expert testimony: Sustainable financing, Eila Kreivi

Comment from the European Commission, Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for the
Environment, Oceans and Fisheries

Comment from the Verkhovna Rada, Oleg Bondarenko, Chair of the Committee on
Environmental Policy

Civil society intervention: Role of civil society in Ukraine’s recovery, Anna Ackermann,
Ecoaction

Comments from MEPs, questions from WG members and discussion

Closing remarks

16:30–17:00 Press Conference

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