Ukraine needs a national strategy for the formation of emission quotas

After the war, Ukraine may have perhaps Europe’s largest environmental credit for development, if it does not miss its chance or give it to others.

In our development strategy, we need to proceed from several strategic axioms of the future.

1. There are more people and fewer natural resources.
2. The Green Deal will become the basic development matrix in the largest economies of the world: the EU, the USA, the core of the British Commonwealth, Japan and China.
3. The main pool of global investments will be formed in the Green Deal programs.
4. The dirty economies of developing countries will be artificially limited with a special tax on the carbon footprint.
5. Eco-parameters of the economy will become key in determining its factorial competitiveness and investment capacity.

As of 1991, Ukraine had a certain industrial potential. Let’s take it as a constant. Since then, due to deindustrialization, up to 40% of industry has been lost, mainly in the segment of harmful emissions: chemistry, oil refining, steel industry. After zero, all this was credited to the country by reducing carbon emissions.

Now part of the Ukrainian industry has been destroyed by the Russians as a result of the war: it is worth remembering only two steel plants in Mariupol. Thus, we have a significant quota for new emissions and the creation of new enterprises as part of Ukraine’s reduction of its carbon footprint as a result of past deindustrialization and military destruction.

In simple words, until Ukraine reaches the level of industrial development of 1991, the country can:

• sell emissions allowances;
• create new businesses that will not be taxed on the carbon footprint and will be approved under the global Green Deal.

However, there are a number of risks in this case. Instead of creating new enterprises and attracting foreign investment, Ukraine will simply sell its emission allowances and buy more imported police cars, metro cars or ambulances, that is, it will dispose of these allowances incompetently. Finally, we can simply forget to provide these quotas.

The National Strategy for the formation of emission quotas as a result of the destruction of industry during deindustrialization and war should already be developed.

Ukraine must clearly state at international environmental forums that until it reaches the industrial potential of 1991, there is no reason to tax Ukrainian goods on a carbon footprint. Moreover, investments in the renewal of the Ukrainian energy sector, processing of agricultural raw materials, etc., should be carried out through the financial plans of the global Green Deals. And then Ukraine, as a country with the deepest mechanical deindustrialization, will become a country with the largest environmental growth quotas in Eastern Europe.