Report by the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities: UK response, March 2024
Deputy Ambassador Brown raises concern of the continued devastating economic and environmental effects of Russia’s brutal and illegal war of aggression.
Thank you, Ambassador Dzhusupov, for your presentation and welcome to the Permanent Council.
A year since your predecessor last addressed the Permanent Council, we remain deeply concerned by the continued devastating effects of Russia’s brutal and illegal war of aggression. Each day there is yet more impact on Ukraine’s - and the OSCE region’s - economy and environment.
So we were pleased to see the focus in your report on how your office is working to mitigate the effects of Russia’s war, which stretch right across the OSCE’s comprehensive concept of security. For as long as Russia decides to continue its needless war this focus must be maintained.
Whilst Russia continues to destroy trade links and weaponise food and energy security, the UK welcomes focus on projects to promote sustainable trade and transport connectivity between Central Asia and Europe. Enhanced economic cooperation across the OSCE region will build trust and supply chain security.
We welcome the final publication of the summary report of the one-year assessment of the economic and environmental damage done by Russia’s war. We look forward to the publication of the full report, which will be an important tool in holding Russia to account.
The UK is pleased to be able to support your office’s new, pioneering work on climate migration. There is still work to be done to fill knowledge gaps and ensure we have data which show us the relationship between climate change and human mobility. The UK is expanding its work to tackle upstream migration and we are interested in closer collaboration with the OSCE in this area.
We are also pleased to be able to support the project “innovative policy solutions to mitigate money laundering risks of virtual assets.” A lack of regulation, transparency or ability to freeze assets means crypto is the perfect vehicle for criminals to launder money.
We welcome your office’s work to address challenges on natural resource management and energy security in Central Asia. We are complementing these efforts through our support to the CASA-1000 project, a long-term, $1.2 billion energy transmission infrastructure programme, which will link hydroelectric dams in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Sadly, Russia continues to use the second dimension as a place to seek to justify their illegal and brutal war, and to excuse the incredible economic and environmental damage they are causing to the region. It is Russia’s blatant disregard of the OSCE’s founding principles that causes any mistrust and lack of confidence in the second dimension.
Ambassador Dzhusupov, thank you again for your report, and we look forward to supporting you and your able team in the months ahead.