Seeds of Resilience: Innovations for Ukraine’s Food and National Security

Date: Wednesday, 19 November 2025, Time: 11:00-12:30, Location: COP30 Belém, Ukraine Pavilion

This side-event explores how agricultural innovation, climate-smart technologies, and sustainable finance can strengthen Ukraine’s capacity to feed its people, revitalize rural regions, and contribute to global food stability.

Panelists will discuss opportunities for blended finance, including those arising under Article 6, distributed renewable energy, and digital transformation to modernize Ukraine’s agriculture and make it both green and sovereign, reinforcing the connection between agriculture, security, and peace.

Guiding questions:

· How can blended finance and transitions from donor support to private investment scale agricultural resilience and innovation?

· What is the potential of Article 6 cooperation for Ukraine’s agricultural sector?

· What technological innovations – from precision irrigation to AI-driven crop management – can accelerate the modernization of Ukraine’s agriculture?

· How can national and international partners align policies and investments to make Ukraine’s agriculture both green and sovereign through agricultural bioeconomy approaches?

· How can Ukraine strengthen food self-reliance and resilience amid disrupted trade, occupation risks, and climate stress?

Speakers:

· Pavlo Kartashov, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine

· Olga Petryniak, Senior Director of Resilience for East Africa, Mercy Corps

· Marta Trofimova, Head of Sustainability, Kernel

· Kateryna Holzer, Senior Researcher, University of Eastern Finland, OFFCORR project (Research Council of Finland)

· Till Reinholz, Doctoral Researcher, Institute for Climate Protection, Energy and Mobility (IKEM)

· Mike Lemon, Founder, Low Carbon Initiatives & BTR Energy

· Lynda Hopkins, Supervisor, Sonoma County, California

· Ievgeniia Kopytsia, Research Fellow at Oxford University & IKEM, Associate Professor at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University (moderator)