Defund Putin’s War Machine: Ukrainian Environmentalist Calls For Global Halt to Fossil Fuel Funding

We speak to Svitlana Romanko, a leading Ukrainian environmental lawyer, based in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk, which was bombed Friday. She describes the situation there, and discusses her hopes that new sanctions to prevent American banks from investing in Russian fossil fuels signal a tipping point that will force the world to transition to clean energy. Aside from its disastrous impact on the environment, Russian oil and gas has funded powerful oligarchs and the military industrial complex, which should prompt world leaders to invest in renewable energy in ways that will survive beyond the war, says Romanko. This week she co-authored an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times with 350.org founder Bill McKibben headlined The Ukraine war is a decision point - banks should stop funding the fossil fuel industry forever."