Ecological security of Ukraine: state and current challenges

Abstract

The starting point of the proposed research is the constitutional provision that ensuring ecological security and maintaining ecological balance on the territory of Ukraine is the state's duty. The corresponding postulate leads to the permanent relevance of special attention to the problems of ecological security of Ukraine, in particular, to the current challenges in this area. Given the above, the purpose of the study is to generalize the current challenges to the ecological security of Ukraine and to outline scientific and practical approaches to effectively respond to these challenges. The formulated goal for its implementation led to the solution of the following tasks: 1) to outline the challenges to the ecological security of Ukraine; 2) to systematize approaches to effectively respond to the relevant challenges.

The presented work shows that the main challenges to the ecological security of Ukraine include the catastrophic consequences of Russian aggression and the deterioration of the main components of the environment. It is emphasized that the damage caused to the environment of Ukraine is one of the largest in monetary terms. The author also argues that special challenges for environmental safety are: 1) violation of the requirements of water protection legislation, in particular, pollution of water bodies; 2) industrial pollution of the environment (all its components); 3) outdated environmental safety management system; 4) outdated legal acts of environmental law and environmental safety law that do not meet the challenges and requirements of today.

The result of the study is an emphasis on the fact that an effective response to the relevant challenges requires modern legal mechanisms to ensure effective environmental policy. In particular, the Law of Ukraine "On Environmental Protection" (1991) and the Law of Ukraine "On the Basic Principles (Strategy) of the State Environmental Policy of Ukraine for the period up to 2030" (2019), which must take into account the content and specifics of current challenges to national environmental security, need to be updated.