Consultative meeting with national experts from Ukraine in the framework of the OSCE Project Mitigating Climate Change Threats to Critical Energy Infrastructure

On 20 December 2023, an online consultation meeting was held with national experts from Ukraine within the framework of the OSCE project on mitigating climate change threats to critical energy infrastructure.

The meeting was attended by the following representatives from the OSCE and Argonne National Laboratory (USA):

- Ralph Ernst, Co-ordinator of the OSCE Economic and Environmental Section;

- Giulia Manconi, Senior Programme Officer, Energy Security Section, Office of the Co-ordinator of the OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, OSCE Secretariat;

- Dun Werner, Director of the Global Energy and Climate Security Division, Decision and Infrastructure Sciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory (USA);

- Rao Kothamarthi, Chief of the Atmospheric and Climate Sciences Division and Lead Scientist, Environmental Sciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory (USA).

The following representatives of the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Centre and the Hydrometeorology Division of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine took part in the meeting from the conference hall of UHMC:

- Mykola Kulbida, Director of the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Centre;

- Anatolii Prokopenko - Deputy director of UHMC;

- Yurii Burlaka - Deputy Director of UHMC;

- Bohdan Masovets, Head of the Hydrometeorology Division of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine;

- Iryna Grokhovetska, Head of the Department for Organisation of Activities of the Hydrometeorology Division of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

- Ruslan Revyakin, Head of the International Cooperation Department of UHMC;

- Anatolii Gavro - Deputy head of the International Cooperation Department of UHMC;

 Experts from the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Institute also participated in the meeting, joining from their workplaces.

The event was organized by the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine. Representatives of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and a number of the Ukrainian organizations and companies interested in the issues related to climate change and energetics joined the meeting online.

The participants discussed the following points of the agenda:

- Presentation of the OSCE project and contextualisation. 

- Exchange of views on Ukraine's priorities in relation to the link between energy security and climate change.

- Review of responses to the climate data questionnaire.

- Q&A and follow-up

 During the meeting the director of UHMC Mykola Kulbida took the floor and noted that the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center provides the necessary hydrometeorological data to the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine on a permanent and sustainable basis. Mykola Ivanovych noted that the Ukrainian hydrometeorological network which suffered significant destruction as a result of the Russian military aggression will need assistance including within the framework of the OSCE project.