In the run-up to URC2024, which took place in Berlin in early June this year, a group of green NGOs issued a joint statement calling for cooperation with the Ukrainian government and international partners. The document emphasises the importance of civil society in times of Russian military aggression and its role in strengthening the actions of the Ukrainian government. The involvement of civil society can significantly improve the quality and speed of environmental reforms envisaged by the Ukraine Facility, the Ukraine Facility Plan, the Environmental Compact, and the European Green Deal. One of the points for cooperation proposed by the NGOs was to address the issue of the mechanism for implementing the "do no significant harm" principle, in short DNSH.

As DNSH is a new concept for Ukrainian stakeholders and application has to appreciate the fact that  Ukraine is a war-torn country, the Ukraine Climate Office and WWF teamed up to organise a webinar on July 16 to shed light on what it actually means and share experience with applying it. 

Even for the EU, the DNSH principle is rather new.. It is not only a technical requirement enshrined in European legislation, the Ukraine Facility or the Environmental Compact. It is also an important condition for Ukraine's social, economic and environmental recovery. As Fabien Porcher, Policy Officer Climate Diplomacy at DG Climate Action of the European Commission, pointed out in his speech, even with active military operations and challenges related to the energy crisis in Ukraine, while rebuilding infrastructure and the economy, we have to take into account the needs of EU accession negotiations, the Green Transition, the challenges of climate change and the need to develop sustainability in the use of natural resources. Without taking into account the imperative to avoid significant damage to nature and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions  in the reconstruction process, we will be hostage to old and ineffective approaches in the security and economic sectors in the future. 

Andriy Andrusevych from the Resource and Analysis Centre "Society and Environment" noted in his intervention that when defining the mechanism for implementing the DNSH principle in Ukraine, it is important to provide a clear explanation of the difference between the "do no harm" and "do no significant harm" principles and to determine at what stage of project implementation and in what areas (investments, reforms, etc.) it should be applied. It is also important to ensure that the process of applying this principle is transparent and involves the public. 

Participants also discussed how the DNSH principle offers many opportunities for the public, business and government. In his presentation, Christophe Jost, Senior EU Policy Officer at CEE-Bankwatch Network, shared his experience of applying the principle in his own organisation, particularly in areas such as public finance monitoring and policy. There are many lessons to be learned from the application of this principle in EU countries. Natalija Šimunović Načelnica, Head of Sector of the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds of Croatia, shared her experience of how Croatia has been able to work successfully with EU funds thanks to the application of this principle. Paula Wagner from the Department for Innovative Climate and Energy Technologies of the Austrian Ministry for Climate, Environment, Mobility, Innovation and Technology shares how they are applying DNSH for Recovery and Resilience Facility projects.

The DNSH can help the government to think ahead, to consider the climate and biodiversity impact of investments at an early stage, thus reducing investment from areas and sectors with a high environmental footprint. Of course some negative impact cannot be avoided fully while we are in an active military confrontation, but Ukraine needs to make sure that even now we are investing in the future, in climate-resilient infrastructure. Speakers from the Ministry of Communal Development, Territory and Infrastructure of Ukraine, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Economy and the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine talked about the work the government is currently doing to address this issue and what kind of expertise and support from the public sector will be relevant in this work.

Summing up the event, Valeriia Kolomiiets, Regenerate Ukraine Initiative Director of WWF-Ukraine and Julia Jesson, Senior Component Leader Climate Policy from GIZ, noted that in light of the suggestions and ideas expressed by participants, there is now an urgent need for guidance that will outline how the DNSH can be applied in Ukraine under the current conditions of war. This should be pragmatic but at the same time as ambitious as possible - it is about the future of Ukraine, its people and nature, and the present should not jeopardise the future unless it is absolutely necessary, for example, to win this war. The expert community has sufficient expertise and capacity to assist the government in developing this document and further implementing the principle in various sectors and areas and ready to support this initiative.

For further information, please reach out to Valeriia Kolomiiets, <vkolomiiets@wwf.ua>