CLIMATE NEUTRALITY: CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES FOR EUROPEAN POLICY
Authors:   Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine, SHEVCHENKO Olena 
Published: January 2025

B a c k g r o u n d .The article examines issues related to challenges to European climate neutrality, which have arisen before the European Union due to Russian armed aggression in Ukraine. The authors emphasize that the European Union has set an ambitious goal of becoming the world's first climate-neutral continent. The implementation of these plans requires a coordinated position not only of the member states, but also of the EU partners. Russia's military aggression against Ukraine may affect the achievement of European climate goals, as this conflict is accompanied by a significant impact on the environment. The authors set a goal to analyze how the Russian military invasion of Ukraine can affect the achievement of climate neutrality. To achieve the goal, the following research tasks were defined, in particular, to characterize the basic principles of the strategy and tools of the EU climate policy, to show the impact of Russian aggression on the ecology of the EU, to determine whether the topic of the environmental consequences of Russian aggression in Ukraine is relevant for the European public, and to assess how Russian armed aggression can influence the achievement of the goals of European climate neutrality. M e t h o d s .The following methods were used: discursive analysis, the analysis of the documents, analysis and synthesis, comparative method, content analysis.R e s u l t s.In the frames of the study, it was revealed that the European Union has adopted a number of documents that fix the goals of the green transition, determine the tools for their achievement and are of an imperative nature. Since the war has the worst effect on the environment, the European climate policy will have to take into account the environmental consequences caused by the Russian aggression in Ukraine. There is a consensus that the ecological disaster in Ukraine, which is already characterized as ecocide, has a complex nature and will lead to a significant imbalance of ecosystems not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe. It is shown that the topic of the environmental consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine for the European Union is constantly present in the European media, which indicates its relevance for the European public. Con c l u s i o n s .The analysis of the environmental consequences of military actions made it possible to conclude that the challenges to the European climate policy in achieving the goals of climate neutrality can only be predicted, that is, the war can both intensify the climate crisis and, accordingly, political challenges, and improve progress in the implementation of the "Green Course", which will allow the European Union to realize its climate ambitions. On the one hand, it is obvious that the war exacerbatesthe climate crisis and, accordingly, political challenges. On the other hand, with the proper format, we can expect success in the implementation of the "Green Course", which will allow the European Union to solve its specific tasks, in particular, to become the first climate-neutral continent, to stimulate global climate actions and to increase the competitiveness of European economic sectors. Accordingly, it can be expected both more ambitious climate actions and the inhibition of the process.