Environment
Belarus
Climate
frigid winters, temperate and humid summers; intermediate climate between continental and maritime
Land use
other
16.5% (2023 est.)
forest
44% (2023 est.)
agricultural land
39.6% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: arable land
arable land: 27.4% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent crops
permanent crops: 0.4% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent pasture
permanent pasture: 11.7% (2023 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
80.7% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
0.28% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Waste and recycling
municipal solid waste generated annually
4.28 million tons (2024 est.)
percent of municipal solid waste recycled
19% (2022 est.)
Environmental issues
contamination of soil due to pesticide application; the southern region of the nation affected by fallout from the 1986 nuclear reactor disaster at Chornobyl' in northern Ukraine
Total water withdrawal
municipal
600 million cubic meters (2022)
industrial
430 million cubic meters (2022)
agricultural
385 million cubic meters (2022)
Carbon dioxide emissions
total emissions
46.709 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
from consumed natural gas
29.328 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
from coal and metallurgical coke
1.497 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids
15.884 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
Particulate matter emissions
13.4 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
Total renewable water resources
57.9 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)
International environmental agreements
party to
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified
none of the selected agreements