The plan for Mykolaiv’s adaptation to climate change is due to be presented to councillors in August

Mykolaiv, Mykolaiv Oblast. Photo by ‘NikVesti’

In early August, the draft Mykolaiv Climate Change Adaptation Plan is due to be submitted to city councillors for review, after which the document will be tabled for consideration at a council meeting.

This was discussed during a staff meeting on 6 July, according to NikVesti.

The final stage of preparing the document is currently underway — they are awaiting the results of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), said Artem Vashchylenko, chair of the Expert and Public Council and coordinator of Team Europe Mykolaiv.

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«We are effectively in the home straight with this document. We are awaiting the results of the SEA. We would like to know when this might be and what the timeframe is, as we expect the document to be submitted for consideration by the city council councillors,» said Artem Vashchylenko.

Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych noted that councillors must familiarise themselves with the document before it is considered at the session.

«I think we need to send it to the councillors so they can familiarise themselves with it and so on,» said the mayor.

Tetiana Shulichenko, Director of the City Council’s Department of Economic Development, reported that the document is due to be submitted to councillors in early August.

As a reminder, Mykolaiv became the first city in Ukraine to develop a Climate Change Adaptation Plan. The document sets out measures designed to help the city adapt to the effects of climate change, including heatwaves, droughts, flooding and other extreme weather events. The draft plan had previously been refined to take into account proposals from the city council’s departments and municipal utilities.

As part of the Plan’s preparation, an online survey was conducted, in which 1,448 residents took part. The data obtained has been taken into account in drawing up the final list of measures in the Plan.

The survey revealed that Mykolaiv residents believe the city’s climate has changed noticeably, with half of those surveyed noting that these changes have only become apparent in the last 3–5 years. Residents have begun to experience deteriorating health more frequently.

Almost 60 per cent of respondents reported headaches, weakness and insomnia during periods of heatwaves and air pollution. A further 40 per cent reported exacerbations of allergies, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

It is also worth noting that climate change and a critical decline in the water balance could render half of the country’s agricultural land unsuitable for cultivation. By 2050, the drought zone is set to cover millions of hectares.