President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky took part in the International Climate Ambition Summit, which took place online on December 12, the presidential press service reported.
“This year, the event was attended by more than 70 heads of state and government, who recorded short video appeals outlining the ‘new and ambitious’ commitments of their states under the Paris Climate Agreement,” a message posted on Sunday morning reads.
In his video address, Zelensky said that this year Ukraine was particularly affected by climate change: prolonged droughts destroyed crops in a number of regions, large-scale forest fires in the east and devastating floods in the west. “Every inhabitant of the planet already feels the breath of global warming and suffers losses due to a passive attitude to climate policy,” the President stressed.
According to him, Ukraine has consistently adhered to its commitments to effectively implement the Sustainable Development Goals – 2030 and international climate agreements.
“In preparation for the Conference of the Parties to the Paris Agreement in Glasgow, we are working on a second nationally determined contribution. On this basis, we consider the target for greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 in all sectors of Ukraine’s economy in the range from 36% to 42% compared to 1990, i.e. a reduction of 58-64%,” Zelensky said.
In addition to the new commitments under the Paris Agreement, Ukraine is also working to improve the mechanisms of state financial support for climate policy, the President informed.
“Ukraine also seeks to align its climate policy and legislation with the European Green Deal. We are stepping up cooperation with the EU in the areas of energy efficiency, development of hydrogen energy and renewable energy sources, fair transformation of the coal sector and development of a national greenhouse gas emission allowance trading system,” the President noted.
“Ukraine’s long-term goal is to achieve carbon neutrality. We will make every effort to minimize the time to achieve this goal,” he added.
Also, according to the Head of State, Ukraine continues the process of revising its Energy Strategy, which provides for the development of renewable energy and gradual replacement of fossil fuels, including coal.
“We have started preparing a framework strategy for adaptation to climate change in Ukraine until 2030. The document will coordinate the work of various authorities at the national and local levels. Ukraine is and will remain one of the active and responsible participants in the global process of combating climate change and protecting the environment,” the President stressed.
The International Climate Ambition Summit 2020 is dedicated to the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement (2015) and preparations for the next UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), which will be held in Glasgow, UK, in November 2021.
The event will be chaired by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Chilean President Sebastian Piñera and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Under Article 4 of the Paris Agreement, parties are required to report their Nationally Determined Contribution every five years, indicating progress relative to their current contribution, and reflecting the most likely ambition and respective capabilities in light of national circumstances. According to Ukraine’s first nationally determined contribution to the Paris Agreement, the country has committed itself not to exceed 60% in 2030 of its 1990 greenhouse gas emissions (or a 40% reduction since 1990, excluding the “Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry”).
The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors on Saturday night decided to provide Ukraine with a $300 million loan for the Second additional financing aimed at overcoming the consequences of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic for the project “Modernization of social support system for the population of Ukraine.”
“Social protection measures, for the implementation of which a new loan is provided, will help the government of Ukraine finance social assistance programs in order to save about one million Ukrainians from falling below the poverty line,” the bank’s release quoted the words of its regional director for Eastern Europe (Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine) Arup Banerji.
The World Bank’s support for Ukraine to protect low-income citizens who have been severely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak is a powerful anti-poverty response, he said.
The World Bank reminds that the decision on the first additional financing for the above project in the amount of $150 million was made on April 30 this year.
According to the bank’s forecasts, due to the consequences of the pandemic, the poverty level in Ukraine could grow by 4 percentage points, reaching about 23% by the end of 2020.
Its experts report that the crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic requires the introduction of prompt emergency response measures in the country and the provision of emergency cash assistance to citizens. It also highlighted the need to strengthen social protection infrastructure and develop systems capable of delivering payments to people in times of crisis.
“The allocated funds will help Ukraine finance urgent measures in the field of social protection to overcome the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, which provide for emergency cash payments to those citizens and households who have lost their jobs or sources of income as a result of the pandemic,” the message says.
The second additional funding will support the introduction of an online social assistance system and the expansion of social benefits and pensions through direct money transfers to bank accounts. Payments to families with low income will be carried out under the current program of state social assistance to low-income families, the World Bank said.
The World Bank estimates that 60% of Ukrainian citizens who are on the brink of poverty due to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak are not yet recipients of social assistance under one of the existing social protection programs.
The Government of Canada has officially informed the Ukrainian Embassy in Ottawa of the completion of domestic procedures necessary for the entry into force of the Agreement on joint production of audiovisual works between states.
According to the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada, subject to joint production, the agreement will allow Ukrainian producers to qualify in Canada for budgetary support, tax breaks and discounts on distribution. The agreement provides for similar preferences for Canadian artists who will shoot in Ukraine.
“It will be cheaper and easier for our TV crews and filmmakers to work in Canada and with Canadians. I’m glad we were able to explain in Ottawa the mutual benefits of such a partnership. We are waiting for the Ukrainian-Canadian Oscar!” Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada Andriy Shevchenko said.
The document was signed during President Zelensky’s visit to Toronto last year. The Verkhovna Rada ratified it in September 2020.The agreement will enter into force on January 1, 2021.
The State Automobile Roads Agency of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) installed high-precision sensors of the Q-Free Norwegian company at the site of the Weigh-in-Motion (WiM) complex on the M-02 Kipti-Hlukhiv-Bachivsk road in Chernihiv region.
The Ukravtodor press service told Interfax-Ukraine that the equipment of the IRD company (Canada) was used on the previously installed WiM complexes.
“This is the first experience of Ukrainian specialists working with Norwegian equipment, so the installation took place under surveillance of European supervisors. Sensor systems from the same manufacturer will also be installed at the Weigh-in-Motion facility in Mykolaiv region, on the N-24 Blahovischenske-Mykolaiv road,” Ukravtodor said. In 2020, the State Automobile Roads Agency is scaling a network of WiM sites in all regions of the country: in November, a facility was put into operation in Poltava region on the M-22 Poltava-Oleksandria road. At the second object in Poltava region on the N-31 Dnipro-Tsarychanka-Kobeliaky-Reshetylivka road, the installation of the frame has already been finished, and the hanging of cameras and scanners is starting.
On the M-25 Solomonove-Velyka Dobron-Yanoshi checkpoint in Zakarpattia region is also preparing for the installation of all elements of the WiM system. At the end of 2019, within Ukraine’s cooperation with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the road sector development project), Ukravtodor launched six WiM complexes at the entrances to Kyiv.
The Weigh-in-Motion information collection and analysis system works in real time, recording the weight, dimensions, license plates and speed of vehicles.
Ukrtransbezpeka can use data of WiM sites for setting fines in the “preselection” mode. For automatic processing of fines, it is necessary to improve legislation.
By the end of 2020, the number of WiM sites is planned to be increased to 20 ones throughout Ukraine, and in 2021, according to the plans of Ukravtodor, their number should triple.
Ukraine in January-November 2020 increased export of poultry by 5.1% compared to the same period in 2019, to 394,240 tonnes, the State Customs Service has said.
According to its data, in monetary terms, export of these products decreased by 3.6%, to $512.33 million.
At the same time, import of poultry for the 11 months of this year decreased by 17.4%, to 100,030 tonnes, in monetary terms by 13.1%, to $41.88 million.
Export of pork, according to the State Customs Service, rose by 30.2%, to 2,670 tonnes. These products were delivered for $5.8 million, which is 23.9% more than in January-November 2019. Pork import for the 11 months of 2020 increased by 22.6%, to 26,880 tonnes, in monetary terms by 25.6%, to $52.54 million.
In addition, during the specified period, Ukraine reduced export of eggs by 20.8%, to 102,130 tonnes, in monetary terms by 11.7%, to $92.09 million. Egg imports fell by 1.9 times, to 2,670 tonnes, in money terms by 2 times, to $9.58 million.
A loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) in the amount of EUR 100 million will be directed to overhaul of 183 km of roads in Luhansk region, the State Agency for Highways of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) reported.
Funds are provided for capital and current average repairs of the sections:
– route N-26 Chuhuiv – Milove: it covers more than a hundred kilometers, which are planned to be repaired for borrowed funds, because this road connects Luhansk and Kharkiv regions;
– the road P-66 checkpoint “Demyno-Oleksandrivka” – Svatove – Lysychansk – Luhansk, which starts from the border with Russia, a 35 km section has already been repaired, the road is planned to be fully restored;
– road T-13-02 checkpoint “Taniushivka” – Starobilsk – Bakhmut, where work will begin at once on two sections, with a total length of 42 km.
“In 2020, Ukravtodor completed a record amount of road work in Luhansk region: almost 200 km were restored at the beginning of December, and work continues for another 100 km. For comparison, over the past 10 years, only 130 km of roads were renewed. This is one of the most low indicators in the country,” said head of Ukravtodor Oleksandr Kubrakov.
According to him, in 2021, thanks to the funds of international partners, Ukravtodor will restore the transport “triangle” along the Severodonetsk-Starobilsk-Svatove route with access to Troyitske in the north of the region, and in general, thanks to the Big Construction program, a modern road network in the region.
Earlier, the World Bank for Reconstruction and Development has already provided co-financing for this project in the amount of $65 million.
