On October 3, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine said at a hearing in the European Parliament in Strasbourg that the environmental damage to Ukraine caused by the military invasion of the Russian Federation was estimated at approximately 36 billion euros, and millions of hectares of nature reserves were under threat.
Source: Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ruslan Strilets
According to the Ukrainian Minister, a fifth of protected areas in Ukraine are under threat of destruction, in total, about 2,000 cases of environmental damage have been recorded.
The ministry estimated damages for air pollution at about 25 billion euros, and another 11.4 billion euros are needed to eliminate the damage caused to the soil.
“31 million tons of carbon were released into the atmosphere in just seven months of the war, which is roughly equal to the amount produced by New Zealand in a year.”
The Minister also added that 79 million tons of greenhouse emissions might be generated during the restoration of infrastructure and buildings destroyed by Russian troops.
See also: A third of Ukraine’s forest fund was affected during the six months of the war
