Country Details

Ukraine

Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Belarus, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east

Environment

Detailed information and insights

Environmental issues

air and water pollution; land degradation; solid waste management; biodiversity loss; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 nuclear accident in Chornobyl' 

International environmental agreements

Party to

Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

Signed, but not ratified

Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds

Climate

temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; warm summers across the greater part of the country, hot in the south

Land use

Agricultural land

71.3% (2023 est.)

Agricultural land: arable land

arable land: 56.8% (2023 est.)

Agricultural land: permanent crops

permanent crops: 1.5% (2023 est.)

Agricultural land: permanent pasture

permanent pasture: 13% (2023 est.)

Forest

17.3% (2023 est.)

Other

10.4% (2023 est.)

Urbanization

Urban population

70.1% of total population (2023)

Rate of urbanization

-0.27% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions

Total emissions

106.847 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

From coal and metallurgical coke

45.512 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

From petroleum and other liquids

24.488 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

From consumed natural gas

36.847 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

Particulate matter emissions

15.2 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

Methane emissions

Energy

1,003.4 kt (2022-2024 est.)

Agriculture

341.6 kt (2019-2021 est.)

Waste

409.2 kt (2019-2021 est.)

Other

70.9 kt (2019-2021 est.)

Waste and recycling

Municipal solid waste generated annually

15.242 million tons (2024 est.)

Percent of municipal solid waste recycled

4.5% (2022 est.)

Total water withdrawal

Municipal

1.66 billion cubic meters (2022)

Industrial

2.188 billion cubic meters (2022)

Agricultural

1.031 billion cubic meters (2022)

Total renewable water resources

175.28 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)