ABSTRACT
As Ukraine makes important changes in its state policy, new ecological regulations are outlined or implemented that take into consideration the various interests of the parties involved. Securing the basic environmental rights through the Constitution of Ukraine, in 1996, has defined the role of the state within environmental matters and shifted the 'centre of gravity' and the priorities in environmental policy. The most important feature of an environmental conflict rests within its object, which are the actions taken to protect the environment. Environmental conflicts manifest themselves in various ways such as: urban development, land ownership, restrictions on the use and access to natural resources, oil and gas production. In the Soviet totalitarian society, a vertical, hierarchical system of authorities, and the imperative positive law, aimed to prevent all conflicts. Mediation is a form of protection of environmental rights which is inherent to higher form of environmental consciousness or socio-environmental law in the twenty-first century.
