Expert talks about Ukraine's Green Strategy

The forum is organised for the third year in a row by the Association of Sustainable Development Experts (ASDE), according to a report by Socialportal.

The Forum gathered over 700 participants - leading sustainability experts, representatives of the executive and legislative authorities of Ukraine, the business sector of Ukraine and the EU, NGOs and associations, UN programmes, as well as diplomats and journalists.

During the two days of International Sustainability Forum 2023, speakers and participants discussed topics such as: "Financing Green Recovery in Ukraine", "Transition to a Green Economy", "Financing Agribusiness Recovery in Ukraine", "Green and Sustainable Urban Regeneration in Ukraine" and others.

The result of joint work was the formation of the fundamental basis of the Green Strategy of Ukraine for the next 20 years, which will be presented to the Government of Ukraine in the near future.

The Green Strategy of Ukraine is a strategy for the country's development based on the principles of sustainability, taking into account the requirements of European and Euro-Atlantic integration, international partnership, as well as current challenges. It is a set of initiatives, a clear roadmap, a practical action plan, which will be created at the International Sustainability Forum 2023 and submitted to the government for consideration.

The Association of Sustainability Experts is an independent public organisation established in April 2020 with the aim of building a culture of sustainability in society through: advocacy, training, international cooperation and quality interaction between business and the public sector.

Alina Sokolenko, Chair of ASDE, international expert on sustainable finance and ideologist of ISF2023 gave an exclusive interview to Socialportal.

1. How do you plan to integrate the principles of sustainable development into Ukraine's economic model, given its European aspirations and the current state of the economy?

The war set the country back in its development by decades. Compared to other European countries, Ukraine should move much faster, and not only confront the enemy at the front today, but build a new economy in line with European standards. Unfortunately, wars are won by economies. And in order to resist we must change inside the country and conform to international principles.

Until now we are associated with corruption and have not the best reputation on the international market. It is really a long way to build reputation and trust with international partners, that is why the sustainable development approach is a must. After all, these are not just declarative things, they are concrete KPIs that can be measured and relayed in development programmes.

The inclusion of social, environmental and management criteria in key government decisions will help reduce the country's overall risks. Formation of supervisory boards, especially in state-owned enterprises, non-financial reporting, openness and transparency of processes, ensuring social and environmental policy - this is sustainable development.

2. Can you tell us more about how the Green Strategy will affect Ukraine's foreign economic relations, especially with its Western partners?

Trust is what we need most today. Today we see billions of dollars of budgets for the reconstruction of Ukraine from donors, partner countries. But all these programmes, support plans for Western European countries and their local businesses that will help rebuild Ukraine. Therefore, clear programmes and strategies are necessary for Western partners to understand that we can be trusted and we are not only subcontractors.

The Green Strategy is needed first and foremost to reflect the country's existing commitments to transition to a carbon-neutral economy, compliance with the Paris Agreement and a number of EU programmes. The overall strategy is needed to confirm its intentions in all recovery programmes and plans with clear KPIs for the global sustainability goals.

Incidentally, the last full update of our country's implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals was only in 2019. The principle of build back better is already about energy independence, resource efficiency, transparency and openness of processes, etc. The success of recovery in an equal dialogue with Western partners, and for this we need to understand and comply with the Western European green policy.

3. What concrete steps will be taken to involve key stakeholders in the implementation of the Green Strategy, and how do you address possible conflicts of interest between different groups?

One of the key projects of the Association of Sustainability Experts is the International Sustainability Forum, now in its third year, but this year's event attracted a large number of investors. The goal of the Forum is to form a partnership sustainable business ecosystem for Ukraine's economic recovery on the principles of sustainability and the development of real mechanisms and programmes aimed at green transformation.

Our goal is to bring together the world's leading development banks, international donor funds and programmes, international and local businesses, as well as government representatives of Ukraine and partner countries to identify the real risks of each party to find joint solutions. Therefore, there is no room for conflict, everyone solves their own risks and tasks while forming the common good. Our common task is to find lines of intersection of interests for the implementation of the Green Strategy.