Since 2014, conflict in Ukraine’s industrialised eastern Donbas region created a risk of environmental emergencies and will leave a lasting legacy of groundwater contamination from flooded coal mines. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, hundreds of environmentally sensitive sites have been caught up in the conflict, these include industrial and military facilities; nuclear, hydro and fossil fuel energy generating sites; water and sanitation infrastructure and ecologically sensitive natural areas. Read our dedicated joint briefings on nuclear sites, water, industry, fossil fuel facilities and the coastal and marine environment.
Following the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam, CEOBS was asked by UNEP to provide an initial assessment of the potential risks to the environment. Leon Moreland introduces the findings of our rapid analysis, situating them in the wider environmental context of the disaster.
Joint statement on the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine with recommendations for the international community aimed at mitigating harm, at preventing further environmental degradation, and at ensuring the future restoration of Ukraine’s environment.
Наш п’ятий випуск серії бюлетенів Обсерваторії конфліктів та довкілля / Екологічної мережі «Зой» про Україну досліджує те, як військові дії впливають на прибережні та морські екосистеми, а також містить аналіз окремих інцидентів забруднення Бузького лиману, на півдні від Миколаєва.
Our fifth in a series of joint CEOBS-Zoï Environment Network briefings on Ukraine explores how the conflict is affecting coastal and marine ecosystems, and analyses a series of pollution incidents in the Buh Estuary south of Mykolaiv.
Our fourth in a series of joint CEOBS-Zoï Environment Network briefings on Ukraine explores how the conflict has impacted fossil fuel infrastructure across the country, and features a deep dive into the immediate and reverberating environmental effects of a fuel depot attack.
Using the example of Ukraine, this paper explores how remote data collection and data from mine action operations can be used to better address the environmental consequences of the use of explosive weapons.
Our third in a series of joint CEOBS-Zoï Environment Network briefings on Ukraine explores how the conflict has impacted industrial sites across the country, and features a remote assessment of the notorious Azovstal iron and steelworks in Mariupol.
This second in our series of joint CEOBS-Zoï Environment Network briefings on Ukraine explores how the conflict has impacted Ukraine’s water infrastructure and resources, harming people and ecosystems.
This first in a series of joint CEOBS-Zoï Environment Network briefings on Ukraine explores how the conflict has impacted Ukraine’s nuclear facilities, threatening people and the environment.
A brief introductory overview of the environmental dimensions of the conflict in Ukraine’s Donbas region, with facts, figures and further reading.
An unprecedented volume of environmental data is being gathered on the invasion of Ukraine. Doug Weir explores what kind of data is being gathered, and by whom, as well as the environmental narratives that are developing and the implications of this level of documentation.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a stark reminder of the human and environmental costs of armed conflict. In this post, Rachel Killean examines the legal avenues that could be open for Ukraine in seeking accountability and redress for environmental damage.
This update provides an overview of some of the environmental trends caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It builds on our initial rapid assessment, which was published on Feb 25th.
Rapid overview of emerging environmental issues and perspectives arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
How does environmental governance function in areas that are governed by non-state actors during conflicts? Olga Shashkina has explored this question in eastern Ukraine, where two new republics declared themselves when the Ukrainian government lost control of the region.
This blog investigates a potential case of mine water flooding in eastern Ukraine, at a coal mine close to the location of an experimental nuclear detonation in the 1970s. Many mines have been closed during the conflict and with water pumping stopped there are widespread risks from pollution, methane leaks and subsidence.
Over the summer, the International Law Commission has strengthened its draft principles on environmental protection in situations of occupation. In this blog, CEOBS teams up with Al-Haq to review the revised principles against current cases of occupation to identify any further improvements that could be made.
Since 2015, a number of different actors have published data on the environmental impact of the conflict in Ukraine. Doug Weir and Nickolai Denisov take a look at the different methodologies that have been used to monitor environmental harm, their findings, and what the studies tell us about how monitoring could be improved.
With the Ukraine conflict’s environment risks again in the news, Zoï Environment Network has released new maps on the environmental consequences of the conflict. Both sides are increasingly conscious of the humanitarian and ecological impact of the war and plans to minimise risks and encourage sustainable reconstruction are being promoted. But without a comprehensive assessment of the damage, such proposals are of limited value.
The environmental costs of the ongoing Ukraine conflict are still to be fully quantified but an EU-UN-World Bank needs assessment has called for US$30m to fund urgent environmental recovery over the next two years. With UNEP still unable to assess or begin restoring the damage on the ground due to insecurity, this sum, which already far exceeds that for UXO management is only likely to grow.
Early indications suggest that the conflict in Ukraine’s Donbas region has resulted in a number of civilian health risks, and potentially long-term damage to its environment. In order to mitigate these long-term risks, international and domestic agencies will have to find ways to coordinate their efforts on documenting, assessing and addressing the damage.
939 millions tons of industrial waste are stored in tailings facilities in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, the conflict is increasing the risk of a serious environmental emergency through direct damage, and by mines and heavy fighting obstructing access for assessments and repairs.
To mark five years of conflict the OSCE Project Coordinator for Ukraine has published a series of infographics detailing the environmental consequences of the conflict in Ukraine’s Donbas region.
The challenges for the water system eastern Ukraine are significant and remain largely unchanged since they were first assessed by UNICEF in 2017.
A report assessing how the conflict in eastern Ukraine has impacted the quality of surface and groundwaters in the Siverskyi Donets basin, which is intersected by the Ukraine conflict’s frontline.
This report provides an overview of OSCE SMM-facilitation and monitoring of infrastructure repair and maintenance in eastern Ukraine (January 2017 – August 2018).
Conflicts like the ones in the Ukraine, Iraq, and Syria show how wartime damage to the environment can have long-term consequences for countries as they seek to recover.
A recurring theme in the conversations is that the problem with the environment was that once it would go wrong, it would go wrong in a very destructive way.
The publication “Environmental Assessment and Recovery Priorities for Eastern Ukraine” incorporates existing information from various sources on impact and threats to the environment posed by a conflict in Eastern Ukraine.
The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine has not only led to heavy casualties, but also caused significant damage to ecosystems and natural resources as a result of the violation of international principles of and national law.
UN experts on human rights and hazardous substances, and safe drinking water and sanitation, raise concerns over the potential risks from damage to water infrastructure in the Donbas region.
The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue’s assessment has a particular focus on the threats posed by industrial facilities and coal mines in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
The then Austrian Foreign Minister and Chair of the OSCE Sebastian Kurz on the environmental risks being created by the conflict in Ukraine.
The aim of the study was to create conditions for a wide public discussion about the actual economic, environmental and social consequences of coal mining in Donbas during the war
Large-scale heavy industry in the Donbas region adds to the risks posed to civilians through the risk of environmental pollution and related health issues. This article focuses on the often overlooked, or at minimum under-reported, risks of the impact of the conflict on the environment.
A steady uptick in shelling along front lines in eastern Ukraine is threatening numerous industrial facilities that, if damaged, could trigger severe environmental and humanitarian consequences, according to a new report by an environmental nonprofit organization.
Water filtration plants in Ukraine have been repeatedly damaged by shelling. How big a risk does the chlorine gas stored at these sites present?
This article analyses the factors influencing the conservation status of protected areas in Ukraine caused by the unstable political situation in the country in the years 2014‐2016, including military action and occupation of the eastern part of Ukraine by Russian troops, and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and increasing military activity of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This report examines how the right to an adequate standard of living has been affected by the conduct of hostilities, particularly access to sufficient, safe, acceptable and affordable water for personal and domestic use.
This study found that the conflict had exacerbated existing pollution in the Donbas region and caused further environmental damage and loss.
Report by the Ukrainian NGO Environment People Law which was one of the first to raise the alarm about the environmental consequences of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
