Climate in a Time of Conflict
There is a connection between how societies approach conflict and how they value the world around them.
The way we treat each other rarely differs from how we treat the systems that sustain us. And when value becomes purely transactional, imbalance is almost inevitable. The clearest lessons often emerge not from distant risks, but from immediate consequence. When survival is at stake, priorities shift. What was once optional becomes essential.
In Ukraine, necessity has driven more than resilience in conflict. It has accelerated a move toward decentralized, renewable energy and, in places, enabled ecosystems to recover.
The question is not whether change is possible. It’s whether it will last. And whether these lessons are remembered, or quietly forgotten.
IN PRE-PRODUCTION
Locations:
POLAND. Warsaw, Dorohusk
UKRAINE. Yahodyn, Kyiv, Chernoble
Risk policy strategist Anna Ackermann helps cities rebuild with decentralized renewables and climate-proof design.
And at Chernobyl, radiation & soil scientist Dr Kateryna Shavanova studies land already marked by invisible catastrophe - reminding us that environmental damage does not end when headlines fade.
From solar microgrids keeping hospitals alive, to digital systems guiding land rehabilitation, this film follows the people redefining resilience under fire.
In Ukraine, climate action is not a distant ideal, but a matter of resilience, sovereignty, survival, and the shape of peace to come.
As Ukraine fights a brutal war, its scientists are confronting another frontline — the accelerating climate crisis that both predates and amplifies the conflict.
The invasion has generated emissions comparable to those of entire nations, destroyed civilian energy infrastructure, and left reconstruction itself poised to produce nearly a quarter of total wartime emissions.
Yet amid bombardment and blackouts, climatologist Dr Svitlana Krakovska argues that fossil fuel dependence fuels both aggression and global heating.
Resilience and adaptation in the face of war and climate change
ADAPTATION
When the abnormal becomes the normal
The world news presents a staple diet of destruction. Ukrainian news is violent news. It's what we've come to expect, and in so doing, we no longer react as we once did. But the real cost is not only what is destroyed, it is what is endured. The population has no choice but to carry on.
Militarization and survival permeate every aspect of life.
CALCULATING THE COST
In just four years, the war in Ukraine has generated over 300 million tons of carbon emissions - roughly the the annual footprint of an industrial nation like France. Finding detailed data is a challenge due to the nature of war. But these are some of the main categories of CO2 contributors.