缅北禁地

An UNDEF project, in Ukraine worked with local people to engage in democratic processes to protect their environment.  The project, 鈥淪trengthening Participatory Democracy for Effective Environmental Protection in Ukraine鈥�, was implemented by the organization Environment-People-Law.  Despite facing intense political instability, such as the outbreak of a revolution in 2013 and military conflict in 2014, the project was successfully completed in January 2016.  The project established key networks and partnerships among environmental organizations in Ukraine. It also involved publishing four legislative proposals to advocate for reforms to Ukraine鈥檚 environmental policies to promote procedural transparency and public participation.

All of which has led to significant success: less than a year since the project鈥檚 completion: on 4 October 2016, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted two laws 鈥淥n Environmental Impact Assessment鈥� and 鈥淥n Strategic Environmental Assessment鈥�. .

There is still much work ahead, but these legal provisions represent a right step forward in protecting the environment and the people鈥檚 participatory rights in Ukraine. It also contributes to advancing global efforts to protect the environment, one of the U.N.鈥檚 Sustainable Development Goal: 鈥渢ake urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.鈥�