War in Ukraine | Rebuilding a greener Ukraine

The war in Ukraine will result in a huge environmental challenge to clean up soil, air, waterways, etc. On the other hand, some see it as an opportunity to provide the country with buildings, transport systems and public services that are more reliable, more resistant and more… ecological.

From the first days of the war launched by Russia in Ukraine, the small hospital in the village of Horenka, about twenty kilometers northwest of Kyiv, was destroyed by bombs. The power supply was no longer working. The cold was biting. Sick and wounded were cared for with the means at hand.

A year later, not only has the building been rebuilt, but it also runs on solar energy. With its sloping roof and lined with solar panels supplying a heat pump, the building, whose shape resembles that of a barn, is easily distinguished on the horizon.

According to a preliminary estimate made internally, the hospital in Horenka will reduce its heating costs by 80% thanks to its hybrid power system.

At Greenpeace, Central and East Europe (CEE), we are very proud of the result. The reconstruction of the hospital bears the signature of this environmental group, the organizations Ecoaction, Ecoclub and the Victory of Ukraine foundation.

The European Commission (EC) provided the solar panels. In fact, in February 2023, the EC and the Italian manufacturer Enel handed over 5700 solar panels of 350 watts per unit to Ukraine.

“For us, the hospital in Horenka is one of the first examples of ecological reconstruction. Other projects were initiated in the process, including two other hospitals and schools in Irpine”, indicates Denys Tsutsaiev, member of Greenpeace CEE and of the Green Reconstruction of Ukraine project, in an interview by videoconference.

The latter and several others see the reconstruction of the country as an opportunity to do better and greener.

“Since last year, projects with solar solutions have been growing. We need to make our energy systems more decentralized and more resilient,” says Tsutsaiev.

However, this view of things comes with questions. In particular on the fact that what is built today could be destroyed tomorrow. This is the dilemma that daily life reminded us The Guardian on January 31, 2023 by interviewing the head of the Kyiv School of Economics, Tymofiy Mylovanov.

“Should expensive and long-lasting materials be used for reconstruction, with the aim of building back better, or is it better, given the number of homeless people, to spread scarce resources more widely, at the risk of repeating the mistakes of post-war Germany and to rebuild in ugliness? asked the British newspaper.

To this, Professor Mylovanov replied that before rebuilding, it was first necessary to determine solid rules for financing and product quality.

A local contribution

Another question: beyond the philanthropic gesture of Enel and its donation of solar panels, one can wonder if the hundreds of billions injected into the reconstruction will first of all benefit large multinationals while leaving crumbs for local entrepreneurs. ?

At the moment, Denys Tsutsaiev does not see such a threat on the horizon. He obviously wants Ukrainian companies to actively participate in the country’s recovery. According to a report by the American organization USAid, Ukrainian manufacturers would be able to provide 90% of the materials needed for reconstruction.

“Using construction materials made in Ukraine could help preserve 100,000 jobs, generate 5.6 billion in wages and 4.4 billion in tax revenue,” reads the summary of the document released in 2022.

The engineer Julie Beauséjour, first vice-president, international, of the firm EXP, goes in the same direction. “Debris from buildings is almost all salvageable,” she says. It is true that there is concrete from the 1970s, 1980s of poor quality and not reusable. But steel, rock, cement…many can be reused. The creativity in reusing them should not be underestimated. »

Clean up

It’s not just Greenpeace and activist organizations carrying the ball for a greener rebuilding of Ukraine. Countries and international organizations coming to its aid are moving in the same direction.

Welcoming the environmental progress recorded in Ukraine since 2014 and considering that “the war has inflicted serious and considerable damage on the environment”, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) sent an ambitious message in July 2022 when we read in one of its publications that “green post-conflict reconstruction” must become “an economic necessity for the radical transformation of Ukraine into a green economy with net zero emissions”.

However, at the same time, another major environmental challenge is looming on the horizon: depollution and decontamination.

What will be done with non-recoverable waste? What environmental impact will have left the explosives, debris of heavy equipment gutted in the air, the ground and the waterways? And at what cost will it be?

A rigorous evaluation will have to wait for the end of hostilities, believes Denys Tsutsaiev on this subject. “The greatest damage was recorded in the east and south of the country,” he said. It is difficult at the moment to assess this damage to the ground. Same thing with the state of pollution and what will be recyclable. We will have to assess things on a case-by-case basis as villages are liberated,” he says.

In February 2023, days before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, Ukraine’s Ministry of Environment said the environmental damage was estimated at US$48 billion. This figure rose to 53 billion US according to an update dated May 29. The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam on June 6 will further inflate this assessment.