As part of the growth of industrial turnover and the race for a high GDP, we pay less and less attention to the environment. And due to the pandemic and protracted economic crises, this very acute topic has receded into the background.
The overload of the information field plays a cruel joke on us: the agenda varies from new reports on COVID-19 to local elections, which does not give us the opportunity to dive into other problems. In the short term, this is rational, but if we are talking about the environment, on which our health and life depend, we do not care about it yet. After all, this is long-distance running. Or not so far-fetched?
Let's figure it out.
For residents of New York, there is already an unpleasant reminder of the upcoming changes. The fact is that a timer was installed on Union Square in Manhattan in New York, showing how many people are left before the climatic point of no return. The answer to the question about the distance is not comforting: a little more than 7 years before the extreme drought, heat waves and other irreversible cataclysms.
In this situation, it is important to understand that the timer is not a sentence, but a guide to action, primarily for the governments of various countries.
Many states of the European Union are actively engaged in the implementation of alternative energy sources, and also actively encourage the population to use natural resources rationally. In Ukraine, the first steps have already been taken, however, so far rather uncertain steps. At the very least, we already have a number of laws that provide benefits to those enterprises that are ready to switch to renewable energy sources or engage in the production of equipment for the production of alternative types of fuel.
However, as practice shows, this is not enough. The Global Alliance on Health and Pollution established disappointing indicators: more than 57 thousand people die annually from environmental pollution in Ukraine, more than from the coronavirus.
Statistics show that the environmental policy of our country is not effective, and the state of the environment is deteriorating from year to year.
At the same time, the EU has already developed a large and flexible range of economic instruments for ensuring environmental safety - the Europeans started implementing a "green" policy before us.
Thanks to this, we can learn from experience and choose tools that match the peculiarities of Ukraine. Now it is important to understand that this problem cannot be avoided, and it is not our children and grandchildren who will face the consequences of negligent use of nature's gifts, but we ourselves, and in a fairly short-term perspective.
In connection with this, according to experts, it is necessary to promptly carry out a number of measures to establish the natural balance in our state. First of all, he will assess the state of the environment, analyze the state of the soil, the pollution of water bodies, and the quality of air. The assessment should be carried out according to the criteria and norms established by international standards.
The next step will be the development of a "green strategy" for the state for years to come, which should include a bundle of new laws and economic instruments - such as taxes on environmental pollution, environmental insurance, etc. If these two stages are successfully completed, it will be possible to talk about the next ones.
It is important to report that a serious problem requires a serious approach, and Ukraine should immediately realize the scale of consequences that inaction in this matter will lead to. For the sake of our common, ecologically clean future.
Myroslava Mordovets
