Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began in February last year, is the cause of about 150 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, Ukraine's deputy minister said, quoted by experts.
"The war has a devastating impact on the environment. The air, soil and water are polluted as a result of the hostilities," Viktoria Kireeva, Ukraine's deputy minister for environmental protection and natural resources, said in Dubai, AFP reported.
"The total amount of emissions after the 18-month war is estimated at 150 million tons of CO2, which is more than the annual emissions of a highly developed country like Belgium," she told a conference on the sidelines of the COP28 climate conference.
The assessment was made by the War Greenhouse Gas Accounting Initiative, a group of experts studying the impact of the war in Ukraine on the climate.
"Military actions alone account for 25% of these emissions," mostly due to fossil fuel consumption by the Russian and Ukrainian militaries, one of the experts, Leonard de Klerk, told the conference.
Multiple fires, which are particularly common on the front line due to hostilities, account for 15%.
The experts also took into account emissions due to the movement of refugees and detours of planes avoiding Ukraine.
But the largest share of projected emissions — 54.7 million tons, or about a third of the total — is a projection of the climate costs of rebuilding cities left in ruins by the war.
According to the United Nations, the construction sector is responsible for at least 37% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
Kireeva said Ukraine "will recover, but it will additionally cost a significant amount of emissions", adding that Russia should be held "responsible" for this. /BGNES
