Sustainable Development

The Slavic Foundation is working with a number of partners in developing a concept to produce and host a Global Climate Change Conference in Kyiv later this year. We have signed strategic alliances with many foreign experts in order to ensure that the conference will be a great success and this will not only bring great kudos to Ukraine it will also deliver real answers to the problems of Climate Change.

Why the Ukraine?

1. Statistically Ukraine has the highest per capita energy consumption anywhere in the world.
2. There is an unrecognized source of scientific expertise in Ukraine which does not have a Global voice and this needs amending.
3. Ukraine was the first country to suffer the first post war nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. Whilst this is not directly related to the conference it is something that should be discussed when looking at the different sources of energy.
4. Ukraine still has Carbon Credits which it can sell through organizations such as the Chicago Climate Exchange.

What is new about our conference compared to others that have been delivered in recent times?

Consumption of Natural Resources should be seen as a loan from Mother Earth and as with all loans it will need to be repaid at some time in the future. How we pay back is to review the Global position and instead of blaming others for the problems we should accept that this is a human problem that will affect our very existence and we need to act now regardless of blame.

We want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. To this end we have recognized that the Climate Change impact has historically been measured using environmental, social and political structures. There has not been enough economic linkage. The Stern Report stated in October 2006 that if we spent just 1% of the Global GDP it would save up to 20% of Global GDP in the future. It is our intention to draw the experts of the world together not only from the sciences but also from the economic institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF and make the direct link between climate change and economic responsibility.

In order to get Global recognition we will need the support of the Ukrainian Government and cross party willingness to show a resolve to do something about the problem. We will be inviting the leaders in their fields such as Mr Al Gore (Nobel prize winner and ex Vice President USA), Sir Michael Stern (Economist and author of the Stern Report). In order to achieve our aims we will need the Ministry to work in partnership with us in the following areas:

• Economic – The Stern Report is considered to be a seminal piece of work by experts in this field. We need this document to be researched fully and a model developed that can then be used by economists across the Globe to bring the economic recommendations of Stern to a reality. The Ministry has the experts available and we ask that they be tasked with this research.
• Review energy consumption levels in the Ukraine and develop a plan that will put us on the road to lower energy consumption and we can then show that we are making a difference. We need the Ministry to undertake this research.
• We believe that the National Academy of Science has members who are developing alternative sustainable energies. These scientists need to have their work funded correctly in order for them to produce standards of work that will become the envy of the World. We need the Ministry to support this work in a properly funded manner.
• The General Public in Ukraine should be made aware of the Global Climate change problem through a series of well placed public interest films that will educate the adult population. Schools should have this as a small part of the curriculum in order for children to start the generational change that will be required in the future.