Ukraine demands $43 billion in “climate reparations” from Russia
19 November 2025 11:17
The Ukrainian authorities intend to demand $43 billion from Russia as compensation for environmental damage caused by the war. This follows from the press release of the Ukrainian delegation to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The document says that this is “the first case of climate reparations following the war”. They should be used for the “ecological restoration” of Ukraine after the war.
“Russia is waging a dirty war in many ways, and our climate is also suffering,” said Pavlo Kartashov, Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine.
“A large amount of fuel burned, forests burnt, buildings destroyed, concrete and steel used – all this is essentially a ‘carbon footprint of the conflict’ and has significant climate costs,” he added. – “The climate consequences of this aggression will be felt far beyond our borders in the future.
How was the amount of “climate reparations” calculated?
The press release says that Ukraine’s claims are based on estimates from the Initiative for Greenhouse Gas Accounting for War (IGGAW). According to these data, the hostilities started by Russia led to the emission of almost 237 million tons of CO₂ equivalent. This is almost as much as Ireland, Belgium and Austria produce annually combined, Lennard de Klerk of the IGGAW told Reuters.
IGGAW experts arrived at this amount of reparations using the so-called social price of carbon emissions. That is, how much damage they cause to society. Scientists estimate this figure at $185 per ton.
De Klerk noted that the demand for “climate reparations” from the Russian Federation will be submitted through the mechanism currently being created by the Council of Europe. As part of this procedure, about 70 thousand claims from Ukrainians for compensation for damages from the war have already been received.
Collecting evidence of ecocide in Ukraine
Earlier, Suzanne Worschech from the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt am Main called the scale of the environmental disaster caused by the war in Ukraine gigantic. The expert recalled 25,000 hectares of burned forest, 220 threatened or destroyed nature reserves, and almost 1 million hectares of mined forests and land.
Scientists from Viadrina, together with representatives of the Ukrainian authorities and NGOs, are collecting evidence of ecocide – massive environmental destruction – to bring those responsible to justice and claim damages. The International Criminal Court in The Hague does not consider ecocide a crime, but the EU and the UN are campaigning for the inclusion of environmental crimes in the ICC’s list of crimes.
