Carbon Neutrality of Ukraine as a Determinant of Green Development

Abstract

The article presents the research results on some aspects of achieving carbon neutrality in Ukraine. Carbon neutrality is a challenge for the whole world. In 2020, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a historical maximum. The work aims to study the features of achieving carbon neutrality in Ukraine. The tasks of the work are the analysis of the components of the transition to low-carbon development, analysis of the consumption of fossil fuels, and activities related to the preservation of forests, natural steppe, and meadow ecosystems. Interest in carbon neutrality issues grows yearly, with a particularly in 2021–2022. Most articles on carbon neutrality were published by scientists from China, the USA, Great Britain, Turkey, and Pakistan. They are mainly devoted to carbon dioxide emissions, economic growth, renewable energy, energy consumption, financial development, co-integration, dioxin emissions, etc. Positive trends regarding the achievement of carbon neutrality have been identified: the supply of natural gas, coal, and peat has decreased, while the supply of renewable energy sources has increased; the share of coal and peat decreased by 26.4%, and the percentage of energy produced from renewable sources increased to 6.6%; the use of coal and peat decreased by 8.5%, natural gas by 5%, and biofuels increased by 16%; the share of biofuel use increased to 5.8%. Expenditures for environmental protection increased by 88.5%, for preserving biodiversity and habitat – by 3.6 times, and costs for air protection and climate change problems – by 2.5 times. The share of expenditures on the protection of biodiversity and habitat increased to 3.2%, and costs on atmospheric air protection and climate change problems to 19.3%. Negative trends that restrain the development of a carbon-neutral economy were also revealed: a low share of renewable sources in the structure of supply and use. Thus, the percentage of biofuel in aggregate use remains low – only 5.8% in 2020. The area of forest loss is increasing, and the area of forest regeneration has decreased by 36%. The area of reforestation remained at the same level, but the area of afforestation decreased ten times during 2010–2020. The scientific novelty consists in the development of theoretical foundations for the identification of regularities in the formation of the energy transformation theory, which differs from the existing ones using bibliometric (VOSviewer v. 1.6.13) analysis.