Stanislav Sonich was born and raised in Ukraine but later moved to the United States. He has a law degree and experience in the international environmental field and currently resides in Washington, D.C.
While working at the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine, he created the sector of international cooperation and protocol measures, cooperating with INTERPOL and EUROPOL in projects to combat international environmental crime. Among them, a special place is occupied by the “30 Days at Sea” project in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and INTERPOL, which has become an effective tool for investigating international environmental offenses in the Black and Azov Seas in Ukraine, using advanced technologies to detect pollution. The results of this work were highly appreciated by representatives of more than 60 countries at the 24th meeting of the INTERPOL Working Group on Criminal Pollution (PCWG) and the LIFE SMART Waste conference in Brussels, Belgium, in November 2019.
No less important is Stanislav’s role in the legislative field, where he has been an official member of the Working Group on Environment and Criminal Law established by the European Committee on Crime at the Council of Europe. Working on updating international environmental legislation, he has gained considerable experience working with various countries around the world.
In the environmental sphere, Stanislav managed to establish international relations between Ukraine and such countries as the United States, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Austria, Moldova, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
Throughout his career, Stanislav has faced many challenges in the field of environmental protection, mainly related to the joint work of various institutions and organizations to address local and international issues, such as domestic and international environmental crime, wartime crimes against nature, and others.
Stanislav aspires to create a world where ecological well-being becomes an integral part of every aspect of life. He believes that this is only possible through the joint efforts of the international community. Understanding that environmental issues know no borders, Stanislav calls for cooperation and mutual respect between nations to seek innovative solutions and implement environmentally sustainable practices together. His dream is a world where every individual recognizes their responsibility to nature and proudly strives to preserve its beauty and richness for future generations.
