Solving environmental problems is as urgent as overcoming pandemic – UN

The UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow should encourage Ukraine to increase its contribution to combating global climate change under the Paris Agreement.

The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Ms. Osnat Lubrani, said this at the All-Ukrainian Forum "Ukraine 30. Ecology" on Monday, June 7, an Ukrinform correspondent reports

She noted that the devastating consequences of large-scale floods in western Ukraine have shown that climatic changes directly affect the lives of ordinary Ukrainians. In this context, Lubrani emphasized that solving environmental problems and switching to renewable energy sources are the same pressing issues as overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There is no vaccine against climate change. It seems to me that the Paris Agreement is a very good starting platform for the formation of Ukraine's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). I hope that thanks to the experience we will hear about in Glasgow, there will be movement towards more," she said.

The UN coordinator noted that in this sense, Ukraine faces difficult tasks, but "the time has come to do all this".

"The UN has vast experience in agriculture, the transition to renewable energy, and we are ready to work harder to help the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people," Lubrani assured.

As Ukrinform reported, Ukraine will present its second Nationally Defined Contribution to the Paris Agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow this fall.