Ukraine Environment - 2024

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

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.)

Urbanization

urban population: 70.1% of total population (2023)

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

Food insecurity

severe localized food insecurity:

due to conflict - Ukraine continues to be a significant supplier of food commodities for the world; however, according to a 2023 analysis, at least 17.6 million people are estimated to be in need of multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance in 2023 due to the war, including over 11 million in need of food security and livelihood interventions; the harvest of the 2023 winter cereal crops, mostly wheat, is onging and will be concluded by August; as a result of a smaller planted area, the 2023 wheat harvest in areas under government control is estimated at 18.5 million mt, about 8% below the already war‑affected 2022 output; despite decreased cereal production, food availability at the national level is reported to be adequate, but access remains a major challenge; the country has already experienced elevated levels of food price inflation in the past, due to the economic impact of the conflict in eastern areas; in addition, rising energy costs, amidst high unemployment rates and limited livelihood opportunities, are reducing households’ purchasing power and driving more people into poverty

(2023)

Revenue from forest resources

0.34% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0.42% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 13.51 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 202.25 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 63.37 megatons (2020 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.)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Dunay (Danube) (shared with Germany [s], Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km; Dnipro (Dnieper) river mouth (shared with Russia [s] and Belarus) - 2,287 km; Dnister (Dniester) river source and mouth (shared with Moldova) - 1,411 km; Vistula (shared with Poland [s/m] and Belarus) - 1,213 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km), Don (458,694 sq km), Dnieper (533,966 sq km)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 2.77 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 4.04 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 3.06 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

175.28 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)