PRIORITIES
- Raise the Carbon Tax
- Determine the end of Coal Year
- Make Greater Use of Technological Innovations and Industrial Modernization
- Updated NDC Should Guide Climate Strategy at National, Regional, and Local Levels
NARRATIVE
To succeed in reaching its pledge of a 65% carbon reduction goal by the year 2030, it is important for Ukraine to:
- Raise the carbon tax: Redirect the tax into specific funds for decarbonization and form a Climate Fund which will fund actions towards emission reduction. The current carbon tax rate is not enough to stimulate industrial decarbonization, and moreover, its proceeds go into the general budget. There needs to be a wide national discussion on what should be the appropriate tax rate, with consideration of various models. Also, the system of emission trading has to be clarified, especially in the ways it is going to co-exist with carbon tax.
Indicators:
- The carbon tax is discussed, modelled and implemented.
- The Climate Fund is created.
- The emission trading system is defined.
- Determine the end-of-coal year considering Just Transition principles: Recently during COP26, the Ukrainian government joined the initiative Powering Past Coal Alliance with an aim of ending coal use by 2035. But, shortly after that, the government announced that they need to reconsider that goal. So now there is no clarity on coal use exit strategy again. The responsibility for that decision is on the Ministry of Energy, which needs to determine a feasible goal based on a list of alternative possibilities.
Indicator: a defined end-date for coal production and a proposed coal industry restructuring strategy.
- Greater use of technological innovations and industrial modernization, including regulations which support just transitions. Ukraine’s air quality is rated the 6th worst in the world, with an average of 54 thousand deaths per year due to air pollution (estimated by WHO). Ukraine’s pollution is strongly linked to insufficient mechanisms to control industrial emissions and lack of implementation of new emission reduction technologies. From the regulatory side Ukraine needs to pass the Directive on industrial Emissions—which has failed multiple times during the last year. Implementation of the Directive is essential to setting the timeframe and guidance for technological improvements and reducing emissions.
Indicator: accepted law on industrial emissions and necessary supporting regulations.
- Ukraine’s updated Paris Agreement climate goals should a guiding strategy for emission reduction efforts at the national, regional and local levels. Ukraine’s second Paris Agreement NDC is estimated to require 102 billion euros of investment. All the targets require an increase in investments – in alternative energy, in alternative businesses in the coal regions, in the modernization of industries and so on. To boost the process and be illegible for (international) funding, the objectives of the second NDC should be included in national and local strategies. Moreover, mitigation and adaptation measures have to be integrated in local strategic plans.
Indicator: Number of strategic plans at national, regional and local levels that reflect Ukraine’s new NDC.
Contact:
NGO Ecoaction, Oleg Savitskyi, expert in climate and energy policy
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/GrittyOleg
NGO Ecoclub, Illia Yeremenko, project coordinator
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/illia.yeremenko
This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Ukraine Country Manager Anastasiia Bushovska