Dear COP28 leaders,

I am Svitlana Romanko, an environmental lawyer from Ukraine, serving as the Founder and Director of Razom We Stand. Our civil society group is dedicated to advocating for a total and permanent embargo on Russian fossil fuels while fostering a green and sustainable reconstruction of Ukraine.

Formed last year in response to Russian aggression, our NGO is a successor to the Stand With Ukraine campaign, uniting over 860 organisations across 60 countries to counter Russia's energy front. Our primary goal is to propel the rapid deployment of renewable energy sources, crucial for achieving genuine energy security worldwide and peace in Europe.

As a Ukrainian, I feel compelled to draw your attention to the profound implications of Russia's war on Ukraine and the pivotal role many countries at COP28 play in financing it through the import of Russian fossil fuels. The Russian Federation, through profits from oil and gas, has sponsored over 112,000 registered war crimes in Ukraine. Despite global strides towards a post-fossil fuel era, Russia clings to the 21st century as the pinnacle of fossil fuel prominence.

While world leaders have slowly imposed embargos on Russian coal, oil, and petroleum products, they've refrained from publicly disclosing their imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG). Ranked fifth among the world's top carbon polluters (behind China, the U.S., India and the E.U.), Russia remains a climate laggard, heavily reliant on oil and gas exports.

Russia made itself a pariah among Western countries with its invasion of Ukraine. However, at COP, engaging even with adversaries is necessary. This reality often leads heads of democratic states to tolerate dictatorships and conflicts.

Russia's alarming plans to escalate the brutal war in Ukraine are evident in its newly adopted budget. For the first time since the Soviet era, the Kremlin allocated almost a third of all expenditures to the army and the military-industrial complex. In 2024, the national defence budget will be 10.775 trillion rubles, which is 70% more than in 2023, 2.3 times more than in 2022, and three times higher than in pre-war 2021. The army and PMCs will account for 30% of the 2024 budget, and all security forces together - 40%.

Oil keeps the federal budget going with 68% of Russia’s fossil fuel export revenues, gas contributes significantly with 22%, while coal only has regional significance and accounted for 10% of total exports since the start of the Russian invasion.

Continued collaboration with Russian oil and gas entities by international energy companies, traders, shippers, insurers, and banks is prolonging Ukraine's genocidal war and exacerbating the global climate crisis. The ethical and reported involvement in war crimes casts serious doubts on the societal acceptance of these institutions. Hence, engaging in Russian oil and gas production poses significant business, legal, and reputational risks.

Against this backdrop, the UN continues to grant Russia participation in the Conferences of Parties to the Paris Agreement and permits representatives of Russian oil and gas companies to join the official delegation in international negotiations. These practices underscore the need to cease this unlawful conduct and implement extraordinary sanctions explicitly aimed at curbing and reversing the spread of Russian fossil fuels.

The latest data shows that Russian fossil fuels are particularly damaging to the climate. The 2019 study by the US National Energy Technology Laboratory found that Russian gas piped to Europe emits more greenhouse gases than European coal, which has been mined domestically.

According to the IEA’s global methane tracker, Russia is the second most significant source of global energy-related methane emissions. Russia’s gas infrastructure, including production facilities and pipelines, is notoriously leaky despite calls on the Russian government to take action. Ahead of the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, the US and the EU launched the Global Methane Pledge to reduce methane emissions by nearly a third by 2030. Nine of the world’s top 20 emitters have signed onto the effort. Russia did not.

There are also massive methane emissions from Russian coal mines. In June 2022, private satellite monitoring company GHGSat released data on methane emissions from the Raspadskaya Mine in the Kemerovo region in southern Russia, in what has been described as the biggest leak of methane ever detected from a single facility. Satellite images have also shown that Russia has been flaring massive amounts of gas, initially produced for exports to Germany.

We implore leaders participating in COP28 to invest in clean energy technologies and immediately end reliance on Russian fossil fuels. Cease all engagement with Russian fossil fuel projects, including joint ventures such as Arctic LNG-2 and Sakhalin-2. Introduce secondary sanctions against Chinese companies involved in collaborations with Russia. Such action is critical in halting Putin's war machine and mitigating environmental harm.

World leaders have the opportunity to support Ukraine's economic recovery by investing in sustainable energy ecosystems. Such support can help position Ukraine as a global clean energy leader.

Your continued support for Ukraine can help us withstand ongoing attacks on our infrastructure and transform our nation into a model of clean energy for the world to follow, in line with our commitment to sustainable development.

Having this in mind, we call governments and representatives at COP28 to uphold the commitments to climate action and peace by addressing these outstanding issues:

• Aligning national energy and climate policies with the demands of climate science and international justice by implementing adequate procedures to eliminate dependencies on Russian fossil fuels, including LNG.
• Ensure a just, rapid, complete and financed phase-out of all fossil fuels, starting with an immediate end to fossil fuel expansion.
• Exit from all existing fossil fuel projects and joint ventures with Russia, including Arctic LNG-2 and Sakhalin-2.
• Impose an immediate and effective ban on new investments in Russian fossil fuel infrastructure projects.
• Prohibit the provision of transport, insurance and any other financial services for the unsanctioned export of Russian fossil fuels.
• Enforce sanctions and technology export controls against the Russian LNG sector to block Russia's plans to expand LNG production and, in particular, to stop the Arctic LNG-2 project and limit the transfer of LNG from Yamal LNG.
• Strengthen and enforce embargoes on all Russian fossil fuels.

Impose permanent international sanctions against the Russian fossil fuel industry. World peace and climate action need consistent efforts to keep Russian fossil fuels in the ground and particularly prevent its expansion along the LNG vector.

World leaders at COP28 must urgently guide the transition away from our current path, steering us away from a climate catastrophe driven by fossil fuels. We urge all countries to take a strong, proactive stance in steering the world towards a clean energy future. This future should eliminate wars and conflicts fueled by fossil fuels, benefiting the planet and its inhabitants while supporting long-term economic development and energy security.

Our team at Razom We Stand, including myself, is prepared to communicate, support, and advocate for policies that align with these objectives. We're committed to mainstreaming these policies and facilitating collaboration among all stakeholders. This effort aims to achieve energy independence for Ukraine and Europe, transition to clean energy, and counter Russia's aggressive energy tactics by imposing comprehensive energy sanctions against the aggressor. We eagerly await your response to collaborate to email contact@razomwestand.org or svitlana.romanko@razomwestand.org and make these critical changes a reality.

Sincerely,

Dr. Svitlana Romanko

Founder and Director

Razom We Stand