ISSUES TO BE RESOLVED BY THE REFORM
The environment in Ukraine is extensively exploited without any planning and recovery. According to the World Health Organization, every 15 minutes five people die in Ukraine because of the poor environmental conditions, seven people are registered as terminally ill as a result of soil, drinking water, and air contamination. By 2050, the population will decrease by 4 million people (to 39 million), while the pessimistic scenario envisages a decrease by as many as 15 million people (to 28 million people).
This puts the sustained economic growth in Ukraine under threat, since the inefficient use of natural resources has a negative impact on the economic growth. This is due to corruption, unbalanced use of natural resources and lack of financial mechanisms for implementing reforms. According to the World Economic Forum, Ukraine ranks 77th out of 144 countries evaluated when drawing up the Global Competitiveness Index. No decoupling effect is observed in Ukraine (i.e. economic growth not accompanied by increased negative environmental impact). Ukraine ranks 44th in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI).
The system of environmental protection in the country is grappling with the consequences, meanwhile lacking a strategic vision of environmental preservation and sustainable use of natural resources in the present and in the future. There are neither environmental standards, nor a system of agencies responsible for the safe condition of the environment, sustainable development and conservation of the environment for future generations.
The legislation contains no clear-cut evaluation criteria for achieving safe environmental conditions and objectives of sustainable economic development. The low efficiency of the environmental management makes it possible to plunder and pollute natural resources – forests, minerals, water, soil and air – with impunity.
There is no objective and reliable information on the environmental condition. Both supervision and control are vested in one body. No agency is responsible for a failure to perform its functions. There are no supervision and accountability mechanisms for officials involving the inevitability of punishment for deterioration of the environment.
GOAL І. TRANSPARENT AND ACCOUNTABLE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN THE AREA OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES
- Update the fundamental principles (strategy) of the state environmental policy and adopt the National Action Plan — 2020.
Decision-making authority: Cabinet of Ministers, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
- Formalize legislatively the European standards of environmental impact evaluation.
Decision-making authority: Verkhovna Rada.
- Formalize legislatively the application of strategic environmental assessment when preparing state programs.
Decision-making authority: Verkhovna Rada.
- Formalize legislatively the functioning of the electronic system of environmental information (permissions, reports, inspections) for the authorities and the public, to create and launch its work.
Decision-making authority: Verkhovna Rada.
- Formalize legislatively an integrated authorization mechanism for regulation, prevention and control of environmental pollution.
Decision-making authority: Verkhovna Rada.
- Introduce a unified state classification in the sphere of environmental protection taking into account the classifications used in the EU.
Decision-making authority: Cabinet of Ministers, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
- Create and launch the National Nature Conservation Foundation.
Decision-making authority: Cabinet of Ministers, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
GOAL ІІ. THE INEVITABILITY OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR VIOLATIONS IN THE FIELD OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND ENFORCEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION
- Reduce the frequency of checks on compliance with environmental legislation, at the same time increasing their effectiveness based on the principle of "quality, rather than quantity".
Decision-making authority: Cabinet of Ministers, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
- Reinforce the regulations governing the liability for environmental offenses.
Decision-making authority: Verkhovna Rada.
- Introduce an effective transparent accountable system of environmental taxes and charges.
Decision-making authority: Verkhovna Rada.
GOAL ІІІ. SUSTAINABLE USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT
- Formalize legislatively the implementation of the five-stage waste hierarchy.
Decision-making authority: Verkhovna Rada.
- Formalize legislatively the implementation of an integrated approach to water resource management based on the river basin principle.
Decision-making authority: Verkhovna Rada.
- Implement the European standards for the protection of wild birds and conservation of natural habitats of wild flora and fauna.
Decision-making authority: Verkhovna Rada, Cabinet of Ministers, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
- Formalize legislatively the mechanisms of preservation and restoration of forests and protection of biodiversity from the unchecked impact of genetically modified organisms.
Decision-making authority: Verkhovna Rada.
