On October 27, 2021, the press center of the Ukrainian crisis Media Center hosted a briefing at the initiative of a coalition of public organizations demanding to discuss the criteria and Action Plan of the future head of the ministry.
Public organizations recalled the current European integration agenda in the field of environmental protection, gaps in its implementation, and also set requirements for candidates for the post of Minister.
The event was attended by experts from UNP member organizations.
Olena Kravchenko, director of the International Charitable Organization “Ecology Law Human” (Working group No. 3 of UNP), noted that not only the expert community, but also civil society expresses concern that environmental protection is in a secondary place, that there are constant auctions for who to give the Ministry of Environment to.
Ruslan Gavrilyuk, chairman of the National Environmental Center of Ukraine (Working group No. 3 of UNP), noted that the public has been expressing criteria for the minister of ecology for more than one year, however, does not receive the necessary candidate and believes that if Ukraine wants to become part of the European Union, it is necessary to have a strong Minister who would have powers at the level of deputy chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to coordinate reforms that would meet the green transformation of the EU, which is provided for by the European Green course. “On behalf of Ukrainian pro–European environmental public organizations united in civil society platforms that operate within the framework of the Association Agreement and the Eastern Partnership initiative, we demand that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, as the authority that will appoint the minister, take into account the criteria specified by the public and choose an appropriate candidate for the post of Minister,” Ruslan Havryliuk said.
Serhii Shapovalov, an analyst at Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (Working group No. 1 of UNP), presented the results of a survey conducted by the foundation together with the Center for Political Sociology in August 2021. According to the survey results, 26% of Ukrainians consider environmental problems to be one of the most urgent threats to the country. 64% of Ukrainians believe that over the past few years, the environmental situation in the area where they live has become worse.
Source (video recording of the briefing)