President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced his intention to achieve a reduction in emissions of harmful substances in the country.

He spoke about this in his video message at the international Summit on ambitious targets in connection with climate change - 2020, which was held online.

“In preparation for the Glasgow Conference of the Parties to the Paris Agreement, we are working on a second Nationally Determined Contribution.

On this basis, we consider the goal of greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 in all sectors of the Ukrainian economy in the range from 36 to 42% compared to 1990, that is, a reduction of 58-64%, ”the press service of the presidential office quotes Zelensky.

As the Ukrainian leader emphasized, Kiev is striving to coordinate its climate policy with the European Green Deal.

According to Zelensky, the Ukrainian authorities are currently reviewing the energy strategy and intend to develop renewable energy, gradually phasing out coal.

“Ukraine's long-term goal is to achieve carbon neutrality.

We will make efforts to minimize the time to achieve this goal, ”Zelensky said.

The Climate Change Ambitious Summit celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement, adopted on 12 December 2015.

The next UN international conference on climate, where Kiev plans to participate, should be held in Glasgow in November 2021.

"Coalless Alliance"

As experts interviewed by RT noted, one of the main ways to reduce emissions of harmful substances for Kiev is a significant reduction in coal consumption.

On December 9, during the German-Ukrainian energy forum, Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said that the authorities intend to gradually reduce coal generation and completely abandon it by 2070.

“Ukraine will soon join the Coalless Alliance.

We plan to gradually, by 2050, reduce the number of coal mines and by 2070 - to abandon the use of fossil fuels, becoming climate neutral, ”Shmygal said.

At the same time, in June, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine made a decision on the priority use of Ukrainian coal at thermal power plants (TPP) of the country.

In June, the first deputy head of the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine Olga Buslavets, who was then acting minister, noted that the republic needs to increase the consumption of domestic coal, load coal mining enterprises and unused capacities of thermal power plants.

“Such a situation with respect to an artificial decrease in demand for domestic coal is unacceptable, given the fact that this leads to the suspension of the operation of mines, forced downtime, delayed payment of salaries to miners and, in general, an increase in social and economic tension in the regions,” Buslavets explained.

Earlier, Zelensky himself expressed a similar thought.

On February 25 this year in Kiev, at a meeting with the miners' trade unions, the President of Ukraine said that the Minister of Energy had been tasked to limit the import of coal and electricity.

“What kind of import can we talk about if the countries from which we import do not allow us to enter their markets?

Therefore, first, our coal, our miners, our electricity, ”Zelensky said.

Following this logic, the President of Ukraine announced the need to privatize unprofitable state mines.

He addressed a corresponding proposal to the management of the DTEK energy holding, owned by the oligarch Rinat Akhmetov.

True, Zelensky never received a positive response, and later the Ukrainian government announced plans to close unprofitable mines.

  • President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

  • © Press service of the President of Ukraine

Another significant area of ​​the climate policy in Kiev is the stimulation of the renewable energy sector (RES).

Over the past two years, green generation in the country, according to the head of the SBU Ivan Bakanov, has increased almost sixfold - from 1.18 GW to 6.7 GW, although its share in the total energy balance is small - 3.6%.

Nevertheless, the rapid development of the renewable energy potential in Ukraine is dictated mainly by high energy tariffs for solar, wind, biogas power plants and small hydroelectric power plants.

The average cost of traditional electricity in Ukraine is about € 0.03 per kWh, and solar - € 0.13.

To further support the industry, Zelenskiy established a Council of Experts on Energy Security in June.

However, due to high prices, the development of green energy causes discontent in the industrial environment and the transport sector in Ukraine.

So, in mid-November, the Federation of Transport Employers of Ukraine drew attention to the negative consequences of high green tariffs.

Transport workers are sounding the alarm: in the first six months, the volume of railway traffic in Ukraine decreased by 18.2% compared to the same period last year, and passenger traffic fell by almost a third.

"In conditions of degradation"

In a commentary on RT, Deputy Director of the Institute of National Energy Alexander Frolov noted that Kiev's "passion" for alternative energy and the announced rejection of coal do not fit well into the economic realities of modern Ukraine.

“The growth in the volume of renewable generation should be accompanied by an increase in the volume of reserve capacities.

This problem cannot be fully solved by the EU, let alone Ukraine.

In general, green energy is an expensive pleasure.

It makes sense for Ukraine in its current position to resolve much more mundane issues - for example, the planned decommissioning of nuclear power units, ”Frolov said.

In a conversation with RT, Andrey Suzdaltsev, deputy dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at the Higher School of Economics, said that Kiev can achieve greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets solely through deindustrialization.

“The Ukrainian authorities are absolutely ridiculous copying the European climate policy.

Kiev in this matter can achieve impressive results only if it continues to destroy its own industry.

And this will certainly happen if the enterprises are not provided with cheap energy resources, ”Suzdaltsev explained.

According to the expert, Zelensky's climate policy contributes to the transformation of Ukraine into an agrarian country that will not consume large quantities of coal and other types of fossil fuels.

“The so-called carbon neutrality can be achieved in Ukraine by eliminating jobs in heavy industry.

The Ukrainian citizens who have lost their jobs will finally move abroad, and the rest of the country's population will focus on the production of agricultural products and tourism, ”Suzdaltsev says.

Rostislav Ishchenko, president of the Center for Systems Analysis and Forecasting, shared a similar look at Zelensky's climate promises in an interview with RT.

According to the expert, for Ukraine, the rejection of traditional energy sources, including coal, will mean the collapse of almost the entire industry.

“Ukraine should not rack its brains over coal replacement, for the reason that in the future the industry will simply no longer need it.

In the same way, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, which Kiev promised to do, will also occur.

In the conditions of degradation of the Ukrainian industry, no special measures will need to be taken in this field, ”Ishchenko concluded.