The signing took place on July 12, 2019, during the briefing "Environmental Manipulation: The Cost to Ukraine" held at the initiative of the Professional Association of Environmentalists of Ukraine at the press center of the Ukrainian News Agency.
Environmental manipulations for political or commercial purposes have recently become a dangerous trend in the world, which, unfortunately, has also reached Ukraine. This encourages Ukrainian business to join forces to counteract such phenomena, when certain politicians or business competitors, through established pseudo-environmental organizations, call for the closure of certain promising projects and important enterprises, disseminate unverified and sometimes outright fake information and play on public sentiment. During the briefing, many vivid examples of such manipulations in Ukraine were given and the tasks of preventing them were outlined.
The danger of using environmental issues for political purposes is that real environmental problems that need to be addressed at the state level are silenced. A new phenomenon is emerging: eco-terrorism, which uses environmental issues as a tool for manipulation. Therefore, it is important to answer the question together: what do we want: real sustainable development, energy security and independence, environmentally friendly production, strong progress and investment, or just a declaration of support for the development of a green economy and, in fact, slowing down this process?
At the briefing, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the heads of specialized associations to jointly combat environmental manipulations that lead to the closure or refusal to launch projects that are strategically important for Ukraine's economy and block foreign investment in the country.
Today, the Association of Professional Environmentalists has launched a great initiative to combat manipulations on environmental issues, when various pseudo-ecological experts block the development of renewable energy. I am grateful to Lyudmyla Tsyhanok for the right initiative, and we will fully support your endeavors!