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International Conference

“Investments and Climate Change: opportunities for Ukraine”

July 10-11, 2002, Kyiv, Ukraine

The U.s. Agency for International Development and the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine opened а two-day international conference on “Investments and Climate Change: Opportunities for Ukraine.” The conference attracted over 270 participants from Ukraine, the United States, Canada, Europe, and countries with economies in transition to promote investments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the energy, fuel, municipal, industrial, agricultural and forestry sectors of Ukraine’s economy. Leading Ukrainian economists presented an overview of the current investment climate in Ukraine. An update on the international progress in implementing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was given by the UNFCCC Secretariat. Project developers and investment brokers that have financed climate change projects around the world spoke of how these approaches may be applied in Ukraine. International financial institutions such as the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development reported on their respective efforts to assist Ukraine to develop GHG mitigation projects in Ukraine.

Ukraine signed the UNFCCC in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The Verkhovna Rada ratified the Convention on October 29, 1996 and Ukraine became а Party to the UNFCCC on August 11, 1997. Ukraine is а member of Annex I of the Convention, which includes developed countries and countries with economies in transition. Ukraine is an attractive market for investors in GHG emission reductions. Compared to most developed countries, Ukraine’s infrastructure in the energy, industrial, and municipal sectors is so inefficient that large reductions in GHG emissions in Ukraine can be obtained for less costs than in other industrialized countries.

Under the UNFCCC, Ukraine is eligible to develop voluntary projects with other countries to reduce GHG emissions. These projects, known as Activities Implemented Jointly, are being promoted under U.s.-ukrainian cooperation. Since 1999, USAID has sponsored the Climate Change Initiative in Ukraine to provide training, project development support, and technical assistance in conducting the annual inventory of GHG emissions and in developing policy to manage climate change activities in Ukraine.