Kyiv, 11 July 2018 – Ukraine has a long list of the reform priorities in the area of sustainable energy and the environment (SEE). However, their introduction is being slowed down by difficulties in adopting legislation and the low quality of some legal initiatives. To speed up reforms related to sustainable energy and the environment, and to ensure SEE issues are included in government programmes, UNDP Ukraine, with financial support from Sweden, is seeking to improve the capacity of Ukraine’s parliament and to enhance environmental advocacy among politicians, the mass media and the public by carrying out a new project.

The project, entitled “Sustainable Energy and Environment Secretariat to Support the Parliament of Ukraine in the Sustainable Energy and Environment Area aims to support members of parliament and the relevant parliamentary committees (specifically, on Environmental Policy, Nature Resources Utilization and Elimination of the Consequences of Chornobyl Catastrophe, and on the Fuel and Energy Complex, Nuclear Policy and Nuclear Safety) with high-quality analytical support for drafting legislation, organizing stakeholder consultations and round tables, creating communication products, and engaging various stakeholders in SEE issues.

In addition, the project’s objective is to increase the visibility of the SEE issue during the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2019 among representatives of parliament, government, the local authorities, and the public through an advocacy campaign and the provision of analytical support.

“Worldwide, UNDP plays a significant role in helping countries address their environmental challenges,” said UNDP Ukraine Country Director Janthomas Hiemstra. “In Ukraine, we have been actively promoting renewables, biomass for heating, energy efficient lighting and energy efficiency in private and public buildings, leading to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and decreases in Ukraine’s coal and gas dependency. With this new project funded by Sweden, UNDP will support the Ukrainian parliament with policy advice and analytical support, aiming to improve and strengthen Ukrainian legislation in the areas of sustainable energy and environment.”

Over the three-year project implementation period, the work of Ukraine’s parliament on sustainable energy and environment issues is expected to be strengthened through the establishment and functioning of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Secretariat – a think-tank focusing on the provision of analytical support covering a wide range of issues in the SEE area, including climate change mitigation and adaption; energy efficiency; waste management; natural resources management; environmental pollution; mitigation of the negative environmental consequences of the ongoing armed conflict in the east of Ukraine, as well as to greening the development path of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. The overall work of the Secretariat will be based on the sustainable development principles and linked with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Supporting the parliament on SEE, the project will also contribute to the human rights protection and mainstream gender equality in all the activities so that women and men are able to benefit equally from improvements in the areas of sustainable energy and a cleaner environment.

The new Sweden/UNDP project will work in close alignment with the EU-UNDP Rada for Europe Project, which provides broader institutional support to strengthen the Ukrainian parliament in line with its reform strategy, including through implementing a more coherent legislative process, which will benefit all areas involving SEE.

Media inquiries:

Yuliia Samus, Communication Specialist, UNDP Ukraine,

+38 097 139 14 75,  communications.ukraine@undp.org