Ukraine seeks $44bn from Russia over wartime emissions impact

Ukraine will file a claim seeking nearly $44 billion from Russia for environmental damage caused by increased greenhouse gas emissions during the ongoing war, a senior government official told Reuters.

This marks the first attempt by any country to demand compensation for excess emissions generated by military activity, including pollution from fossil fuel use, cement and steel production, and large-scale forest destruction caused by fires.

Significant harm has been done to water, land and forests, said Pavlo Kartashov, Ukraine’s deputy minister responsible for economy, environment and agriculture. He noted that the conflict has produced a massive surge in CO2 and other greenhouse gases.

Speaking at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, Kartashov said the environmental toll is substantial. A representative of the Russian delegation declined to comment on Ukraine’s planned claim.

Dutch carbon accounting specialist Lennard de Klerk estimated that the war has resulted in around 237 million tons of additional CO2-equivalent emissions since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 — roughly the annual emissions of Ireland, Belgium and Austria combined.

De Klerk said he assisted Ukraine in calculating the damage amount using a 2022 Nature study that assessed the social cost of carbon at about 185 dollars per ton.

Ukraine intends to submit its claim through a new compensation mechanism under the Council of Europe, which has already received around 70,000 claims from Ukrainian citizens over wartime losses. A dedicated commission will eventually review and determine all claims, including those filed by companies and other entities.

It is still uncertain how compensation would be financed. De Klerk suggested that frozen Russian assets, worth billions of dollars, could be tapped to cover the claims.