Ukraine has abstained from a UN vote promoting more accurate world-map projections, warning that political maps associated with the Equal Earth project could create ambiguity over Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. Kyiv said it supported efforts to correct distortions affecting Africa and other parts of the Global South, but warned that endorsing such maps without stronger safeguards on the issue of sovereignty could open a “Pandora’s box.” The resolution on Friday passed by 164 votes to one. The United States cast the sole vote against, while Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine abstained. The measure does not ban the long-established Mercator projection or impose a replacement. Instead, it encourages governments, schools and international organizations to use Equal Earth and other equal-area projections when relative size matters. Mercator, devised in 1569 for navigation, enlarges landmasses farther from the Equator. Greenland can appear comparable in size to Africa, although Africa is about 14 times larger. The EU backed the resolution but stressed that it had no bearing on sovereignty, territorial status or internationally recognized borders. It also said its support did not amount to endorsing political maps displayed on the Equal Earth website. France, meanwhile, announced it would move away from Mercator in its diplomatic maps. “Maps shape our understanding of the world,” Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said before the vote. “They guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions.”
