Ukraine plans to attract financial support of 5 million US dollars (4.2 million euros) to the climate-friendly transformation of its agriculture sector, said Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Iryna Stavchuk. Ukraine – one of the top three exporters of agricultural products to the EU – will work together with the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2,000 tonnes by the end of 2021.
“Maintaining food security and developing the country’s economy must take into account the components of environmental protection and climate change,” pointed out the Deputy Minister adding that agriculture accounts for 92 million tonnes of GHG emissions which equals emissions from the entire energy sector, including heat, electricity and transport. She also highlighted that emissions from the use of fields and pastures have increased over the past 30 years and have already exceeded the rate of CO2 absorption of Ukrainian forests.
As a first step, Ukraine, jointly with the World Bank, will complete a research on modelling climate change in Ukraine and its implications for agriculture, which will help farmers better plan agricultural activities taking climate change into account.
As soon as the Framework Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change is approved, Ukraine will develop sectoral adaptation plans, which will take into account the vulnerability of agriculture and plan adaptation measures.
Ukraine’s agriculture plays an important role in Europe’s food security, in the past years it emerged as one of the top three countries exporting agricultural products to the EU. With over 42 million hectares of agricultural land, Ukraine is becoming an increasingly critical link in the global food chain.
“That’s why IFC is launching a new project to increase funding and adapt Ukraine’s agricultural sector to climate change,” said Jason Pellmar, IFC’s Regional Manager for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. The project aims to improve the system of financing agricultural practices in Ukraine, which will help prevent climate change, as well as the adaptation of agricultural producers to its consequences.
“Our goal is sustainable agriculture, which has an investment potential of 11 billion US dollars (9.3 billion euros) in Ukraine,” said Mr Pellmar.
The IFC’s Climate Smart Agriculture Finance Project will operate in Ukraine in 2021-2022 implementing standards and technologies for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural activities to increase the competitiveness of Ukrainian agricultural producers in foreign markets in the face of growing demands for sustainable production.
