Global Clearance Solutions AG (GCS) has signed a Cooperation Agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to support innovative financing approaches for humanitarian mine action and land release in Ukraine.

The agreement focuses on awareness-raising and capacity-building activities for financial institutions in Ukraine, recognising the economic impact of landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination on agricultural land and rural livelihoods.

Prior to 2022, Ukrainian agricultural production contributed to global food supply for an estimated 400 million people. Today, more than 25 per cent of Ukraine's territory, equivalent to over 139,000 square kilometres, is affected by contamination from landmines and ERW, limiting safe and productive land use.

Under the cooperation framework, GCS and IFC will engage with relevant stakeholders through a programme that includes workshops on risk mitigation and humanitarian demining, exchange of best practices with financial and sector stakeholders, expert input on emerging land-clearance technologies, and exploration of innovative financing mechanisms to support land release.

Philipp von Michaelis, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Global Clearance Solutions, commented:

"Restoring land to productive use requires more than clearance capacity alone. Cooperation with the IFC allows technical expertise in mine action to be linked with financial frameworks that can support sustainable recovery and investment."

Activities under the agreement will focus in particular on solutions that facilitate the clearance of agricultural land, aligned with IFC initiatives related to Climate?Smart Agriculture, biodiversity restoration and conservation, and carbon?farming practices.

The cooperation reflects a shared objective to reduce explosive risks, enable safe land access and support Ukraine's long-term economic recovery through coordinated technical, operational and financial approaches.