Restoring Nature, Building Peace: Environmental Reconstruction and Climate-Resilient Development of Ukraine

In the wake of conflict, Ukraine faces the triple challenge of addressing climate change, healing its natural environment, and rebuilding. This panel will discuss innovative approaches to climate-resilient environmental stewardship that not only mitigate and adapt to climate change but also contribute to lasting peace and stability.

Key areas of discussion will include:

• Climate-Focused Environmental Peacebuilding: Exploring how natural -based solution can build resilience, foster dialogue, and contribute to peace in post-conflict regions of Ukraine.
• Ecocide and Climate Justice: Examining the environmental and climate-related damages caused by conflict, discussing legal and practical approaches to hold perpetrators accountable, and preventing future destruction that exacerbates climate vulnerabilities.
• Peatlands as Climate Champions: Highlighting the crucial role of Ukraine’s peatlands in carbon sequestration, climate regulation and freshwater storage in the landscape, and discussing conservation, restoration and sustainable management efforts such as paludiculture to enhance their capacity as natural climate solutions in the face of conflict-related challenges.
• Climate-Resilient National Parks and Biosphere Reserves: Investigating the potential of Ukraine’s national parks to serve as models of climate adaptation, promoting biodiversity conservation and sustainable, climate-conscious tourism while fostering cross-border collaboration on climate action.

The event is hosted by Mistra Geopolitics and IKEM (Institute for Climate Protection, Energy and Mobility e.V.), Europe-Ukraine Energy Transition Hub (EUETH), and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Baltic Sea Region Research (IFZO).

• IKEM is a non-profit association and independent research institute with over 10 years of experience in interdisciplinary research on climate change mitigation. Its work explores issues at the intersection of law, economics and politics.
• EUETH aims to leverage the reconstruction of Ukraine’s energy sector through technological innovation and legislative and regulatory modernization to help bring about a prosperous and vibrant economy in the postwar period. It brings together an interdisciplinary team of experts, to support the efforts of European and international institutions to strengthen Ukraine’s governance, regulatory frameworks, and market mechanisms in the field of energy, sustainability, and climate action.
• IFZO explores the Baltic Sea Region through the multiple connections between cultures, their influence on the ecosystem and the exemplary nature of its transnational institutions.