The article is devoted to the consideration of the ethical and ecological aspect of the framework conditions for the welfare state formation. The hypothesis of the negative influence of high ethnic fractionalization on the ecological situation in a country that in the classical welfare states is offset by the high efficiency of government through the initiation of the function of balancing the interests of ethnic groups in the transmission buffer mechanism is tested in the paper. The study used correlation and regression analysis tools using the application statistical software package STATISTICA. The hypothesis of an inverse relationship between the degree of heterogeneous society and the ecological quality is empirically substantiated. It is proved that the quality of governance can weaken the inverse relationship between ethnic fractionalization and the ecological situation in the country. In the welfare states, the neutralization factor of ethnic fractionalization by the quality of governance institutions is traced, which testifies to the existence of an institutional transmission buffer mechanism in the relationship between the structure of society and the offer of environmental goods.

In the 21st century, in addition to the generally well-known indicators of material well-being, in the modern paradigm of the welfare state, the quality of the ecological environment is gaining an ever-increasing role. Besides that, the modern definition of welfare state takes into account not only environmental dimension, but also the quality of institutions through the governance system that affects the supply of environmental goods. The study provides the classification of countries according to indicators that can ensure the identification of welfare states and the assessment of the classification role of the criteria for environmental state.The strong direct correlation between environmental state and government efficiency has been established. The results of the classification of the studied countries obtained by k-means clustering methods indicate the possibility of using the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Government Effectiveness Index (GEI) and government expenditures indicators as complementary attributes to the classical criteria for the welfare state.The level of country EPI can be regarded as an important complementary criterion for the welfare state. The country environmental state is much more determined by the government efficiency, the quality of state institutions and their activities, rather than by an extensive increase in the funding of such institutions and environmental measures.

The history and dynamics of the introduction of red oak into forest plantations in Ukraine are presented. The positive and negative consequences of this artificially introduced species are characterised. The anthropogenic factor of a broad representation of the species and the probability of low natural spread out outside the existing plantations are highlighted. The current data on the area of red oak plantations by administrative regions, forest categories, types of forest site conditions and age classes in Ukraine are indicated. The possibility of controlling and limiting the adverse invasive effects of red oak representation in forest stands is pointed out. It is recommended to conduct detailed and systematic interdisciplinary research on the degree of red oak invasiveness impact in Ukraine and effective forest care treatments for controlling its negative role.

The article justifies the relevance of studying the state and development trends of the global grain market in the context of existing challenges related to the Russian-Ukrainian war and threats to global food security in general. An analysis of the market's indicators, including demand, supply, production volumes, and grain reserves, has been conducted, which indicates a clear upward trend. The qualitative characteristics of this dynamic have been assessed by determining the trends in changes in two key indicators of the global grain market - the global stock-to-use ratio and the ratio of reserves of major exporters to their utilization. The market structure has been characterized by the relative weight of major cereal crops in the world, such as wheat, maize, and rice. The relative weight of other cereal crops in the global market is insignificant, reducing their impact on the market's key parameters accordingly. Within the scope of the study, trends in changes in the markets of major cereal crops have been identified. The dynamics of indicators for individual cereal crops have shown somewhat different trends in each of the markets. Challenges in the external environment and dynamic shifts in supply and demand have also contributed to high price volatility in the grain market. The dynamics of global grain prices have been assessed based on the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) food price indices. The study of the price dynamics in the global grain market has revealed that price volatility is largely caused by seasonal fluctuations in crop yields in different parts of the world, grain logistics organization, and dumping. Based on the analysis conducted, trends and prospects for the development of the global grain market in the context of deepening external challenges and threats have been determined.

A bstract: The research was aimed at verification of the possibility and expediency of applying i-Tree Eco tools in order to assess the value of ecosystem trees and bushes by the example of one of the parks in Ukraine and representation of the obtained information on an interactive map. For this purpose, the inventory of 228 urban trees in Pryzamkovyi park was conducted and the possibility of its adjustment to the conditions in Ukraine was assessed. The obtained information was analysed and visualised, and the advantages and disadvantages of this process were determined. The scope of the provided ecosystem services for park spaces was specified and it was determined that urban trees in Pryzamkovyi park have a €12.38 million replacement value and the average indicator of annual usefulness of ecosystem services provided by one tree plant or one bush plant in the park is equal to €15.75 per year, according to i-Tree Eco assessment. In order to improve the process of obtaining, processing and visualising materials, an orthophotomap based on unmanned aerial vehicle survey materials was applied. It allowed increasing the accuracy and improving the visualisation of the geolocation of trees and bushes. In order to familiarise a greater number of users with this information, electronic maps of vegetation that display the location of trees and bushes and their ecosystem services, both in quantity and monetary terms, were offered. The peculiarity and the scientific novelty of the approaches to solving the assigned task is the improvement of the process of informing the interested parties about the ecosystem services of a specific tree in the park and green plantations in the park as a whole. The suggested approaches to assessing the value of urban trees and their ecosystem services give ground to emphasise the value of these plants for urban ecosystems, to substantiate the expediency of implementing environmental measures as well as the need to increase the funding of these measures as a compensation for the services provided by trees and plants. At the same time, it is worth mentioning the expediency of conducting further research on this subject and the related issues, which requires follow-up studying.