Ukraine Estimates $35 Billion in Environment Damage from Russia Invasion

On Monday, October 3rd, Ukraine’s Environment Minister, Ruslan Strilets, estimated environment damage from Russia invasion as around 36 billion euro and warned that millions of hectares of protected areas in Ukraine were at risk of destruction, when speaking before European Union lawmakers at a hearing in the EU Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Reuters reports.

One fifth of protected areas in Ukraine is at risk of destruction and about 2,000 cases of environmental damages have already been recorded, the Minister said.  According to estimates from the Ukrainian government, the bill from air pollution caused by the war in Ukraine is so far about 25 billion euros and another 11.4 billion euros are needed to address damage to soil.

"The seven-month-old war alone had caused 31 million tons of CO2 emissions, roughly the amount produced by New Zealand annually”, Strilets said

He said another 79 million tons of greenhouse emissions could be produced for the reconstruction of infrastructure and buildings destroyed during the war.

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