Green Energy Trans­for­ma­tion: Ukraine’s Civil Society Role

The authors of this policy brief inter­viewed eight civil society orga­ni­sa­ti­ons active in Ukraine’s energy sector as part of an inter­di­sci­pli­nary project course in the master’s degree pro­gramme at FU Berlin’s Insti­tute for East Euro­pean Studies. The policy brief sum­ma­ri­ses the fin­dings of this rese­arch, which was con­duc­ted in the summer of 2024, and conveys the recom­men­da­ti­ons made by the civil society orga­ni­sa­ti­ons to the public.

Civil society serves as a cata­lyst for Ukraine’s energy transition

Since Russia’s full-scale inva­sion of Ukraine in Febru­ary 2022, the country has faced immense chal­lenges in main­tai­ning its energy system. Repea­ted attacks on energy infra­struc­ture have caused wide­spread black­outs, dis­rupt­ing daily life and eco­no­mic acti­vity. Despite these set­backs, Ukraine has demons­tra­ted remar­kable resi­li­ence, with civil society orga­ni­sa­ti­ons (CSOs) playing a key role in the country’s green energy tran­si­tion and driving it toward a more sus­tainable future. As Ukraine aligns its energy recon­s­truc­tion efforts with EU inte­gra­tion goals, the role of CSOs becomes incre­asingly cri­ti­cal. These orga­ni­sa­ti­ons have faci­li­ta­ted coope­ra­tion with inter­na­tio­nal part­ners, pro­mo­ted green reco­very prin­ci­ples and helped shape Ukraine’s post-war energy land­scape. Under­stan­ding the role of CSOs in the rebuil­ding process, eva­lua­ting their added value, and iden­ti­fy­ing the oppor­tu­ni­ties for future impro­ve­ment are crucial for the deve­lo­p­ment of effec­tive stra­te­gies for sup­port­ing sus­tainable energy deve­lo­p­ment and com­mu­nity resilience.

CSOs fulfil varying roles in the green reconstruction

“I see us as...If I need to choose one word, then this is a faci­li­ta­tor, meaning that our goal is to speed up and to faci­li­tate the tran­si­tion.” – Hanna Mon­ta­von, CSO Myko­laiv Water Hub.

• CSOs in Ukraine are key drivers of change by their exe­cu­ting grass­roots pro­jects that promote green initia­ti­ves and inte­grate them into local prac­ti­ces. They help shift socie­tal mind­sets toward green energy and influence public dis­course and policy. Addi­tio­nally, they iden­tify prio­rity pro­jects which are most valuable for Ukraine’s reco­very and deve­lo­p­ment, faci­li­tate part­ner­ships and enhance trans­pa­rency. They also submit opi­ni­ons on energy legis­la­tion and advo­cate for the imple­men­ta­tion of cri­ti­cal energy policy decis­i­ons, such as Ukraine’s coal pha­seout by 2035.
• CSOs act as com­mu­ni­ca­tors between various stake­hol­ders, fos­te­ring dia­lo­gue and trust. They bridge gaps between busi­nesses and com­mu­ni­ties, govern­ment and private sector, and state orga­ni­sa­ti­ons and private actors, as well as between inter­na­tio­nal part­ners and the Ukrai­nian govern­ment and between the natio­nal govern­ment and local aut­ho­ri­ties. By faci­li­ta­ting com­mu­ni­ca­tion and know­ledge exch­ange, CSOs are helping to align diverse inte­rests and stra­te­gies toward shared goals. Accor­ding to a repre­sen­ta­tive of one inter­viewed CSO, “What civil society orga­niza­ti­ons do in these con­di­ti­ons is connect various stake­hol­ders, unite their efforts, and coor­di­nate their con­tri­bu­ti­ons to imple­ment and fina­lise infra­struc­ture projects.”
• CSOs are addres­sing know­ledge gaps by edu­ca­ting local staff to enhance their capa­city to imple­ment energy pro­jects effec­tively. They provide scho­lar­ships and stra­te­gic manage­ment edu­ca­tion to younger gene­ra­tion of Ukrai­ni­ans inte­res­ted in trans­forming the energy sector. Through these efforts, CSOs are bridging gene­ra­tio­nal divides and ensu­ring that there are skilled pro­fes­sio­nals in the near future. For example, Hanna Mon­ta­von from Myko­laiv Water Hub states that they “provide scho­lar­ships for girls with a strong apti­tude for tech­ni­cal and natural sci­en­ces from fifth to 12th grade in Ukraine to support their inte­rest in these fields” to “create a talent pipe­line for Ukraine, for the South of Ukraine”.
• CSOs play the crucial watch­dog role in moni­to­ring and coor­di­na­ting green recon­s­truc­tion efforts. They promote trans­pa­rency throug­hout the process and help diverse actors to remain focused on the over­ar­ching goal of a moder­nised, sus­tainable, and EU-aligned energy sector. Andriy Mar­ty­nyuk from Ecoclub states that, “We are con­stantly doing, and we’ve been doing, like watch­dog­ging on what is hap­pe­ning on energy and climate poli­cies and the govern­ment plans and so on. With the EU acces­sion and with our can­di­date status, we’ve got kind of simpler tasks, I would say, because there is the Ukraine faci­lity and Ukrai­nian plan from the side of the Ukrai­nian govern­ment. […] It is why we can inform the Euro­pean Com­mis­sion to lobby for the change we see needed in the reforms and so on. Because it’s much more pro­mi­sing way than to try to push our government […].”

Febru­ary 2022 marks a start­ing point of growth and changes

The fol­lo­wing CSOs provide examp­les of adapt­a­ti­ons made in response to the full-scale Russian invasion.

Myko­laiv Water Hub: Founded in 2021, Myko­laiv Water Hub initi­ally focused on water­works capa­city buil­ding. Fol­lo­wing the inva­sion, it expan­ded its network post-inva­sion to include the private sector, uni­ver­si­ties, and muni­ci­pa­li­ties. This stra­te­gic shift toward recon­s­truc­tion has led to pro­jects such as rebuil­ding the Water Inno­va­tion Lab and laun­ching rese­arch and deve­lo­p­ment pro­grams in the water and energy sector.

Ecoac­tion: Initi­ally focused on rene­wa­ble energy policy advo­cacy, the orga­ni­sa­tion has exten­ded their focus to include the imple­men­ta­tion of green energy solu­ti­ons in schools and hos­pi­tals, reflec­ting the urgent energy secu­rity con­cerns caused by the war. These initia­ti­ves include edu­ca­tio­nal pro­jects to raise children’s awa­re­ness of sus­taina­bi­lity. Govern­men­tal and public support for rene­wa­ble energy initia­ti­ves has grown, driven in part by these suc­cessful pro­jects with tan­gi­ble results. The pro­jects have pro­vi­ded effec­tive solu­ti­ons against black­outs and for more energy secu­rity in general.

Ecoclub: Active for over two decades, the Rivne-based NGO focuses on green energy in muni­ci­pa­li­ties, a mission that inten­si­fied after 2014. Fol­lo­wing the full-scale inva­sion, it has gained pro­mi­nence for instal­ling solar systems in hos­pi­tals, further rein­for­cing its com­mit­ment to local sustainability.

The Russian inva­sion has led CSOs to evolve their roles, from advo­cacy to direct imple­men­ta­tion of cri­ti­cal infra­struc­ture pro­jects. This shift is essen­tial for addres­sing Ukraine’s energy and recon­s­truc­tion needs, with rene­wa­ble energy taking centre stage.

In light of mul­ti­ple chal­lenges, CSOs are finding inno­va­tive solutions

Civil society orga­ni­sa­ti­ons in Ukraine are addres­sing chal­lenges across govern­ment policy, energy secu­rity, and socio-eco­no­mic factors. One of the central issues men­tio­ned is the imple­men­ta­tion of natio­nal stra­te­gies on a local level. While natio­nal ambi­ti­ons, such as the Natio­nal Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) and Natio­nally Deter­mi­ned Con­tri­bu­ti­ons (NDCs), are estab­lished to meet EU stan­dards, local com­mu­ni­ties often struggle to under­stand their role in these stra­te­gies. This dis­con­nect, along with a lack of con­side­ra­tion for local needs, stems from ina­de­quate com­mu­ni­ca­tion between govern­ment bodies and local stakeholders.

In response, CSOs engage in advo­cacy efforts to shape govern­ment policy, forming working groups to bridge com­mu­ni­ca­tion gaps between aut­ho­ri­ties. Another major chall­enge is main­tai­ning clear govern­ment prio­ri­ties. Many fear that the urgency of energy sector pro­blems could overs­ha­dow the most sus­tainable, long-term solu­ti­ons. To counter this, CSOs are actively pushing ambi­tious climate and energy goals, even amid wartime conditions.

Notable achie­ve­ments include legis­la­tive suc­ces­ses, such as main­tai­ning the coal phase-out target for 2035. In a more direct manner, CSOs have taken up pro­jects to install rene­wa­ble energy systems, par­ti­cu­larly solar PV with storage systems, to power cri­ti­cal infra­struc­ture like hos­pi­tals but also schools and other muni­ci­pally owned insti­tu­ti­ons. These initia­ti­ves are an imme­diate response to fre­quent power outages but also serve as proof-of-concept pro­jects to show­case how decen­tra­li­sed energy can func­tion at scale. Hanna Mon­ta­von from Myko­laiv Water Hub under­li­ned the importance of this goal, stating that “because Ukraine is going through a very tragic, but in the same time, unique expe­ri­ence, when due to the ongoing war, we need to think quickly, how to make our infra­struc­ture diver­si­fied, decen­tra­li­sed, and not exposed, the single source of either energy or water will not be exposed to direct attacks. Because if you have mul­ti­ple sources, that is much more dif­fi­cult to destroy it.” Proof-of-concept pro­jects are inten­ded to have knock-on effects for invest­ment from the private sector, which may lack capa­city to test pilot pro­jects, and to attract the atten­tion of poten­tial donors. Andriy Mar­ty­nyuk from Ecoclub states the fol­lo­wing: “The imme­diate goal is to support muni­ci­pa­li­ties with backup energy sources due to the black­outs. But what we see as a [broader] stra­te­gic aim behind this project is to create as much suc­cessful pilot pro­jects with rene­wa­bles in energy sector in muni­ci­pa­li­ties as pos­si­ble to actually con­tri­bute to this capa­city buil­ding in this regard and to let muni­ci­pa­li­ties under­stand how it might work. To sti­mu­late demand for further adop­tion.” A suc­cessful example of this is the secured support from Germany’s Minis­try for Economy and Climate Action after Minis­ter Robert Habeck’s visit of a pilot project. CSOs have also taken on an edu­ca­tio­nal role, offe­ring trai­ning pro­grams on prac­ti­cal energy solu­ti­ons such as balcony solar systems and raising public awa­re­ness about redu­cing energy con­sump­tion. These efforts com­ple­ment or sub­sti­tute for govern­ment actions, thereby demons­t­ra­ting the capa­city of CSOs to step in where state insti­tu­ti­ons are overstretched.

Coope­ra­tion by and with CSOs can be improved

CSOs and other stake­hol­ders in Ukraine col­la­bo­rate suc­cessfully in various con­stel­la­ti­ons. For example, the CSO Razom We Stand states that “​​we work with the German Minis­try of Economy. We work with GIZ [Deut­sche Gesell­schaft für Inter­na­tio­nale Zusam­men­ar­beit – German Inter­na­tio­nal Coope­ra­tion Society]  in Ukraine and in Germany. We work with people and acti­vists in Belgium, Germany, and many other count­ries. We have worked with the USA, with the Depart­ment of Energy.” But there are also chal­lenges within exis­ting coope­ra­tion. While part­ner­ships with foreign players (minis­tries, CSOs, private sector) are mostly posi­tive, there are chal­lenges within the coope­ra­tion between Ukrai­nian CSOs, and between Ukrai­nian CSOs and Ukrai­nian minis­tries, inclu­ding inef­fec­tive com­mu­ni­ca­tion, and even imposed govern­men­tal aut­ho­rity over CSOs. These con­flicts inter­fere with pro­duc­tive and effec­tive coope­ra­tion and could delay the recon­s­truc­tion of the sus­tainable energy sector in Ukraine. Addi­tio­nally, poor com­mu­ni­ca­tion struc­tures lead to gaps in col­la­bo­ra­tion among stake­hol­ders, further limi­ting their ability to achieve shared goals. One CSO obser­ved that “we have some com­pe­ti­tion from [the] NGO side and [the] govern­ment. [...] They [govern­men­tal stake­hol­ders] take credit for what local NGOs are doing. [...] Some players in our indus­try have some cases when Minis­tries com­mu­ni­cate about the pro­jects [imple­men­ted by NGOs] like they are the pro­jects of [the] Minis­try of Edu­ca­tion [...] but they do nothing to help us.” Resource com­pe­ti­tion poses another chall­enge, with CSOs often com­pe­ting for limited finan­cial and human resour­ces, which under­mi­nes their coll­ec­tive impact. Finally, the ongoing war adds to the ope­ra­tio­nal com­ple­xi­ties, making it dif­fi­cult to imple­ment sus­tainable energy pro­jects and engage in long-term plan­ning. These chal­lenges all tog­e­ther hinder the poten­tial of CSOs to drive meaningful change in their communities.

Ukrai­nian CSOs have become key stake­hol­ders in driving the country’s tran­si­tion to green energy and con­tri­bu­ting to war related recon­s­truc­tion, swiftly adap­ting from advo­cacy to direct imple­men­ta­tion of rene­wa­ble energy pro­jects despite the chal­lenges of ongoing con­flict and infra­struc­ture des­truc­tion. Effec­tive green recon­s­truc­tion of Ukraine’s energy sector requi­res stron­ger col­la­bo­ra­tion between the public, private, and civil society sectors. Key to this effort are long-term invest­ments, clear com­mu­ni­ca­tion struc­tures, and an enhan­ced role for CSOs in moni­to­ring reforms. Greater coope­ra­tion between CSOs, govern­ment agen­cies, inter­na­tio­nal part­ners, and busi­nesses is essen­tial to ensu­ring Ukraine’s green reco­very and energy transition.

CSO’s recom­men­da­ti­ons for action

Recom­men­da­ti­ons for govern­ments com­mit­ted to help Ukraine’s energy sector’s sus­tainable reconstruction

• Promote inter­na­tio­nal enga­ge­ment: To drive recon­s­truc­tion, the inter­na­tio­nal com­mu­nity needs to invest more. Spe­ci­fi­cally, govern­ment invest­ment gua­ran­tees that cover war risks could incen­ti­vise the private sector to make long-term investments.
• Secure long-term funding: Stable and long-term funding for civil society impro­ves the pre­dic­ta­bi­lity and the­r­e­fore the effec­ti­ve­ness of the work of civil society actors.

Recom­men­da­ti­ons for the Ukrai­nian Government

• Improve infor­ma­tion exch­ange between stake­hol­ders: The Ukrai­nian govern­ment, private com­pa­nies and the civil society need to exch­ange infor­ma­tion more effec­tively to gather pool exper­tise and avoid blind spots. Effec­tive net­wor­king in the short term can save resour­ces due to pos­si­ble wrong turns in the long run.

Recom­men­da­ti­ons for the Ukrai­nian civil society

• Reduce com­pe­ti­tion, streng­then coope­ra­tion: Com­pe­ti­tion, espe­ci­ally for funding, between Ukrai­nian CSOs should be repla­ced by increased coope­ra­tion to pursue common goals more effectively.
• Utilise oppor­tu­ni­ties for inter­na­tio­nal coope­ra­tion: Enhan­ced coope­ra­tion between Ukrai­nian CSOs and inter­na­tio­nal stake­hol­ders pres­ents a stra­te­gic oppor­tu­nity to acce­le­rate Ukraine’s tran­si­tion to a sus­tainable, decen­tra­li­sed energy system. Alig­ning these efforts with Ukraine’s EU inte­gra­tion goals will further support the country’s resi­li­ence and long-term sus­taina­bi­lity. With appro­priate inter­na­tio­nal support, Ukraine’s CSOs can con­ti­nue to be a driving force in rebuil­ding energy infra­struc­ture and secu­ring a green future. “The head ques­tion is invest­ment and gua­ran­tee for invest­ment” (Quote from Razom We Stand).
• Enforce reforms: Civil society could play a stron­ger role in moni­to­ring the rightful imple­men­ta­tion of reforms in the energy sector to acce­le­rate the tran­si­tion to rene­wa­ble energy.

Civil society orga­ni­sa­ti­ons in Ukraine are crucial to the country’s green energy tran­si­tion and reco­very. With the right invest­ments and part­ner­ships, they can help over­come current chal­lenges and support Ukraine’s way toward a more sus­tainable and resi­li­ent future.

​​The autors would like to thank the fol­lo­wing Ukrai­nian CSOs for taking the time to talk to us: Myko­laiv Water Hub, Ecoclub, Razom We Stand and Ecoac­tion. We would also like to express our sincere thanks to the CSOs who wish to remain anonymous. 

No power cuts could stop them – thank you for your open­ness, honesty and trust.