Ukraine Seeks Climate Damage Compensation from Russia: A Historic Claim

Ukraine is planning to request $44 billion from Russia as compensation for climate-warming emissions resulting from the ongoing war. This unprecedented claim includes damages from fossil fuels, cement, and the destruction of trees. A Dutch expert assisted Ukraine in calculating the damage using the social cost of carbon.

In an unprecedented legal move, Ukraine aims to demand nearly $44 billion from Russia to account for climate-warming emissions tied to the ongoing conflict. The claim represents the first time a nation has pursued compensation of this kind for war-related emissions, including those from fossil fuels, cement, and the loss of forestry.

Pavlo Kartashov, Ukraine's deputy minister for economy, environment, and agriculture, highlighted the extensive damage war has inflicted on the environment, such as heightened CO2 emissions and forest destruction. Dutch carbon accounting expert Lennard de Klerk calculated that the war produced an additional 237 million tons of CO2-equivalent emissions, approximating the annual emissions of Ireland, Belgium, and Austria together.

Utilizing a Nature study from 2022 to estimate the social cost of carbon at $185 a ton, Ukraine is poised to submit its unprecedented claim through a new European compensation process. The process, already handling 70,000 Ukrainian wartime damage claims, could see the payment derived from frozen Russian assets.

(With inputs from agencies.)