Ukraine Environment - 2021

Environment - current issues

air and water pollution; land degradation; solid waste management; biodiversity loss; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic- Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 18.29 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 202.25 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 63.37 megatons (2020 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 2.397 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 3.577 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 3.206 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

175.28 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Climate

temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; warm summers across the greater part of the country, hot in the south

Land use

agricultural land: 71.2% (2018 est.)

arable land: 56.1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 1.5% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 13.6% (2018 est.)

forest: 16.8% (2018 est.)

other: 12% (2018 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 0.34% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0.42% of GDP (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 69.8% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: -0.27% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 15,242,025 tons (2016 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 487,745 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 3.2% (2015 est.)