Will a more digital and cleaner Ukraine be a legacy of the current war?
This is what the nation is aiming to, if judging by president Zelensky’s statements at the Ukrainian Recovery Conference (URC), which just took place in London.
Technology and ecology are central to his vision for reconstruction — soon after the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam triggered an environmental catastrophe of great magnitude.
The country’s eastern industrial heartland could be regenerated to “become one of the key global centers for green metallurgy,” said Zelensky over a video link.
By targeting “social progress through technology,” the country could “dismantle the old oligarch model” which it inherited from the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian president added.
This vision was honey to the ears of the Western political leaders who attended the conference. “Ukraine is not just rebuilding, but re-imagining itself,” said European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. “They have stunned us with their ingenuity.”
As an example, she cited a bombed-out school in Irpin, which was rebuilt using solar panels.
At the conference, G7+ countries committed to developing a new “Clean Energy Partnership” with Ukraine, according to Oleksandra Vasylenko, who heads the Department of Economic Diplomacy at the Ukrainian ministry of foreign affairs, cited by TechUkraine. This partnership aims “to accelerate the transition to a green energy system, that is secure, sustainable resilient and integrated with Europe.”
Sustainable development is also one of the “four core principles” of Business Compact, a URC platform for global corporations to show their support for Ukraine’s recovery and modernization.
This article is partly based on a story published in PWM. Click here for the full story.
