At the beginning of November, representatives of Ecoaction, NGO Ecoclub, Energy Act for Ukraine Foundation and Razom We Stand together with the mayors of Nizhyn and Chervonohrad spent time in Washington, DC advocating for a green reconstruction of Ukraine.
As a follow-up to the letter from 50 communities to the U.S. government calling for more direct support to municipalities, this advocacy trip put a special emphasis on energy security and resilience on the level of communities, as projects in renewable energy sources and energy efficiency for municipal sector infrastructure are already bankable and are being realised by Ukrainian towns.
Mayors and NGOs discussed the status of renewable energy and energy efficiency deployment at the local level as well as opportunities for engagement in these efforts from the American private and public sectors. Delegation members shared how these projects are bridging the gap between urgent energy sector needs and the broader strategy for a clean energy transformation of Ukraine, as well as highlighted lessons learned from Ukraine’s experience in maintaining energy system resilience under extreme circumstances.
The delegation met with the representatives of the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Commerce, USAID, US-Ukraine Business Council, DFC and Global Communities.
Ukrainian mayors have also had a meeting with Geoffrey Pyatt, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and coordinator of the G7+ efforts to assist Ukraine in rebuilding its energy infrastructure.
In addition, mayors and NGO representatives joined two public events organised by the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center, Ukraine House, German Marshall Fund of the United States, E3G and Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Washington, DC office.