Ukraine has already decided to build a dialogue on the European Green Deal and to engage in the policies’ development. After all, the Green Deal has a cross-sectoral dimension, i.e. it concerns not only the environment and climate ambitions but also new conditions for access to the European market, a new system of technical regulation and standards.
This was emphasized by Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna during the hearings at the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management.
"Ukraine cannot stand aside from the European Green Deal, as its goal is to synchronize national legislation with European laws and participate in the EU policy-making process. This is important not only to minimize the threat of new barriers to trade but also to use all the opportunities of the new economic and environmental paradigm that Ukraine can get as the largest neighbor of the European Union," said Olha Stefanishyna.
She also noted that along with the desire to achieve the goal of a climate-neutral European continent, Ukraine is strongly and systematically promoting its national interests. Negotiations are currently underway on the non-application of carbon regulation towards imports, the launch of an "industrial visa-free regime" and the liberalization of the preferential trade regime. For its part, Ukraine is already contributing to the implementation of the European Green Deal through the adoption of a law on inland water transport and the promotion of a bill on waste management.
"This legislation is based on better European regulation, so its adoption and implementation is Ukraine's contribution to combating climate change and effective waste management," said Olha Stefanishyna.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, currently in the dialogue with the EU much attention is paid to the fair transformation of coal regions, energy efficiency and the ambition of our Nationally Determined Contributions to reducing emissions.
"We must ensure balance and equality in our dialogue, so when we are talking about Nationally Determined Contributions, updating the annexes to the Association Agreement or new commitments to adapt legislation, we must look for a compromise on the time frame and available funding. Such issues require a qualitatively different level of planning on the part of the state," said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Olha Stefanishyna also stressed that climate change and green transformation had already become a matter of national security and part of Euro-Atlantic integration. "All my dialogues at the level of the Secretary General of NATO or his deputies include climate issues, along with national security and military interoperability."
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