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UKRAINIAN CITY CONSIDERS DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL ACTION PLAN ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Yenakievo, 12 July, 2002 - A roundtable entitled “Global climate change and city participation in climate protection programs” was held in the municipality of the city of Yenakievo, Donetsk Oblast. The roundtable was initiated by activists of the Council of Public Organizations of Yenakievo in partnership with the Public Council at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of Donetsk Oblast and the Us-based NGO Alliance To Save Energy.

Global climate change is one of the most acute environmental problems facing humanity. Cities of the planet are responsible for the lion’s share of greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities. The city of Yenakievo is а major center of mining and metallurgical industry of Donets Basin and its share in the total level of greenhouse gas emissions of Donetsk Oblast is significant. The roundtable helped the local community to initiate а dialogue on greenhouse gas emissions reduction and to consider opportunities for city participation in international programs that could provide relevant information and expert support. Among them - international programs MUNEE (Municipal Network on Energy Efficiency) and LEAP (Local Environmental Action Program), currently implemented in Ukraine and funded by the US Agency for International Development, and the Cities for Climate Protection campaign coordinated by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (Toronto, Canada).

Despite unusually hot weather (almost 40⁰C), the roundtable was attended by the city deputy mayors, heads of key communal utilities and environmental services, directors of biggest industrial enterprises, leaders of public organizations as well as city- and oblast-level journalists. The roundtable participants proposed energy efficiency as the first priority climate protection measure that might help the city contribute to international climate protection programs and at the same time solve its key problems of social and economic development. A preliminary agreement was reached on the development of а local action plan on climate change that will involve the whole community of Yenakievo and experts from the Alliance To Save Energy and the Polish Network “Energie Cities”.

The roundtable in Yenakievo is the first event within the information tour “Climate Of The Future Without Threat To Life” that is held this year by the Ukrainian NGO Climate Change Working Group, an influential network of more than twenty leading environmental public organizations from eleven oblasts of Ukraine.

For more information, please contact:

Lidija Nemchenko,
Chairwoman, Council of Public Organizations of Yenakievo
tel: (06252) 5-42-49
e-mail: kvarc@en.dn.ua

Vladimir Berezin,
Chairman, Public Council at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of Donetsk Oblast
tel: (06274) 6-06-24
e-mail: berezin@bakhmat.org

Stanislav Potapenko,
Climate Change Specialist, Kiev office of the Alliance To Save Energy
tel: (380 44) 246-4799
e-mail: spotapenko@ase.org