Check against delivery

 

Statement 

by the Delegation of Ukraine

at the UNGA High-level debate “Preventing and Combating Illicit Trafficking 

in Wildlife and other Crimes that Affect the Environment”

(New York, 8 June 2026)

Madame President,

Ukraine thanks the President of the General Assembly for convening this timely high-level debate and welcomes the continued engagement of the United Nations and UNODC on this important issue.

We support international efforts aimed at preventing and combating illicit trafficking in wildlife and other environmental crimes, strengthening international cooperation, enhancing law enforcement capacities, and ensuring accountability for those responsible.

Ukraine’s experience demonstrates that armed conflict can have catastrophic and long-lasting consequences for the environment and can create conditions in which environmental crimes proliferate. Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine has caused extensive and, in many cases, irreversible damage to ecosystems across the country.

Hundreds of thousands of hectares of forests have been destroyed by shelling, fires, and military operations. Several Ukrainian national parks and nature reserves have been directly affected, with some located in areas under temporary occupation and therefore outside effective environmental protection and monitoring.

Protected areas in the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions have suffered severe degradation, including habitat loss, contamination, and disruption of ecological balance. The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam by Russia in 2023 further devastated downstream ecosystems, resulting in massive biodiversity loss, the drying of wetlands, and long-term disruption of water systems essential for both wildlife and local communities.

The environmental consequences of the war also include the accumulation of vast quantities of hazardous waste generated by the destruction of civilian infrastructure. In particular, the collapse of buildings has produced significant volumes of asbestos-containing debris, posing serious risks to human health and the environment. Ukraine is also increasingly concerned by pollution associated with the widespread use of fibre-optic cables on the battlefield, the remnants of which accumulate in natural ecosystems and create additional environmental challenges requiring assessment, management, and remediation.

Large areas of land remain contaminated by landmines and explosive remnants of war, making environmental restoration extremely difficult and dangerous. At the same time, weakened environmental governance in temporarily occupied territories creates risks of illegal exploitation of natural resources, including unauthorized and environmentally harmful activities.

These constitute serious environmental crimes with long-term transboundary consequences. They must be recognized as such, and those responsible must be held accountable in accordance with international law.

In this regard, Ukraine underlines the importance of further scaling up the environmental activities of the United Nations system in Ukraine, including through the United Nations Environment Programme. We highly value UNEP’s efforts to assess environmental damage, support recovery planning, and strengthen environmental governance, and we encourage the international community to expand such assistance.

Ukraine also emphasizes the need to strengthen international mechanisms of environmental cooperation and governance. Environmental challenges are increasingly transboundary in nature and require coordinated multilateral responses, stronger implementation of international environmental law, and enhanced support for countries facing severe environmental impacts of armed conflict.

In this context, Ukraine remains interested in intensifying negotiations within the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee established pursuant to United Nations Environment Assembly resolution 5/14, “End plastic pollution: Towards an internationally legally binding instrument”. We believe that advancing an ambitious and effective global agreement on plastic pollution is essential for protecting ecosystems, biodiversity, and human health worldwide.

Ukraine remains committed to strengthening international cooperation and stands ready to work closely with the United Nations, regional organizations, and all partners to prevent and combat environmental crimes, protect biodiversity and ecosystems, enhance accountability, and support a more secure and sustainable future for present and future generations.

Thank you.