Explore cases of environmental harm in Ukraine
June 12, 2024
The Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS) has been remotely tracking and assessing environmentally-relevant incidents in Ukraine since February 2022. CEOBS shares its data with relevant stakeholders, the data informs the team’s research and advocacy activities, and this dataset could contribute to Ukraine’s green recovery. You can now examine environmental harm through 25 case studies sourced from CEOBS’ Ukraine incident database.
Ongoing research and analysis
Following the 24th February 2022, it quickly became clear that the scale, intensity and character of the conflict in Ukraine was generating incidents of environmental harm that posed risks to people and ecosystems, and which would impede Ukraine’s recovery if left unaddressed. The types of harm and volume of available open-source intelligence informed development of a database framework that aims to capture the breadth and depth of environmentally-relevant incidents, with a systematic and detailed characterisation of the potential environmental harm. The data CEOBS continues to collect and analyse has a number of end uses, which include prioritising site assessments, and informing remedial activities and policy development. However, for reasons of operational security, the database is not accessible to the general public.
An interactive case study map
While material from the database has informed many of CEOBS’ research outputs on Ukraine, the team has also wanted to share more information on individual cases that have been examined. UNEP and the government of Japan supported funding of the development of a new interactive map as part of their support for the work on the database. The database has also been made possible by support from the OSCE, UNDP and Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The map features 25 incidents that help illustrate some of the types of environmental damage that have been caused or exacerbated by the conflict. Each of the case studies features a timeline of key incidents, and satellite and social media data has been used to undertake remote assessments of the damage and the potential risks to the environment.
It is important to note that remote analyses have their limitations and that ground assessments will be needed at the sites to validate the extent of any potential risks identified. Moreover, although the risks are small, recent imagery and analysis could influence military decisions. For these reasons of operational security, CEOBS only publishes information on this map with a delay, the cut-off point is currently the end of September 2023.