Pavlo Yablonskyi, Chairman of Vinnytsia City Council, Showed Europeans a "Piece of Death" at the International ChangeNOW Summit

This year's summit brought together CEOs of successful companies, international organizations, government officials, mayors, and representatives of active communities.

"Our goal is to bring the victory closer. To explain to a wide audience the critical security situation in Ukrainian cities. The organizers said that 33,000 people attended the summit. During our presentation, we talked about Vinnytsia's experience in terms of green transition and alternative energy support programs. We are talking about the city council's programs to compensate businesses for installed energy sources. It is crucial to attract assistance for the city: medical, humanitarian, and financial for recovery projects," said Pavlo Yablonskyi, Chairman of Vinnytsia City Council.

The main topics raised by the participants at the summit were ecology, sustainable cities, finance, mobility, nutrition and agriculture, carbon reduction, energy, biodiversity conservation, and inclusion.

"Given the growing number of people with disabilities, we need to adapt the city for all those affected by the missile strikes and hostilities, and create inclusive conditions for residents," says Pavlo Yablonskyi.

One of the most pressing and particularly painful issues for our country is the search for resources to help mitigate the effects of climate change due to the war waged by russia against Ukraine. Europeans have seen with their own eyes the russian hardware that kills Ukrainians every day, destroys their homes and wipes out peaceful cities.

Pavlo Yablonskyi, Chairman of Vinnytsia City Council, told the international community how Vinnytsia community has been living since the tragic February 2022. He began his report with the missile attack on Vinnytsia International Airport and the terrorist attack on Peremohy Square.

"A terrible tragedy happened on July 14. Three russian cruise missiles hit the city center. A local clinic, an office center, a parking lot and a concert hall were damaged. The strike killed 29 civilians, including 3 children. 200 people were wounded and almost half of them were hospitalized. All this was done by russia. And I brought a "piece of death" with me. This is a piece of a rocket that the russians used to kill the people of Vinnytsia. And this was not the only strike on the city," Pavlo Yablonskyi addressed the summit participants in his speech.

The Chairman of the City Council also thanked the participants for their support of Ukrainian cities in the fight against russian aggression, for democracy and values. He also touched upon the topic of the Green Deal.

"Before the full-scale invasion, Vinnytsia began to develop in line with the trends of other European cities, integrating global sustainable development goals and Green Deal principles into all our program and strategic documents," Pavlo Yablonsky, Chairman of Vinnytsia City Council, told the summit participants.

"It was an incredible opportunity, and we used it. A huge audience learned about Vinnytsia. We met the founders of the summit, a representative of the Club of Rome. This is an international organization that brings together scientists, public figures and business people from more than 30 countries. During the meetings, we discussed issues related to community resilience and met with representatives of the French program of the Foundation, which provides construction of medical facilities and purchase of medical equipment that is so necessary for the recovery of those affected by the war. We are grateful to the CEO and founder of Santiago Lefebvre and the entire ChangeNOW team, as well as Diana Sidko, for the opportunity to participate in such a progressive event, to remind us of the war in Ukraine and to tell the wider European community about Vinnytsia," said Svitlana Yarova, a member of Vinnytsia City Council.

The summit was attended by thousands of participants: delegates from Germany, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Morocco, Spain, Turkey, France, and Poland.

In addition to the debates, they visited innovative exhibitions, participated in conferences and meetings to save the planet, thematic workshops, presented new platforms for sustainable urban development and business cases from EDF and the presentation of the Smart Cities Marketplace.