Environmental policy of the Government of Georgia

On 28th of July, 2018 Prime Minister of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze presented the Government Vision on the Policy for the Protection of Environment – Strategy of Green Economy. Implementation of this Strategy is a primary task of the GoG, which is duly reflected in the Government Program.
Environment protection, maintenance of sustainability, and the rational use of natural resources, are major challenges and at the same time priorities for the Government of Georgia. In order to achieve economic
growth in modern conditions, a new type of green growth-oriented economic model is needed. It will facilitate modernization of the country’s economy through the introduction of new, green technologies.
New Green Policy will primarily be focused on the following two priorities: neutralization of the results of past careless environmental management and preservation of existing natural resources. These policies serve to ensure that Georgia is perceived as a country with a green economy.
According to the new Strategy, Georgia will gradually tighten the environmental standards and will get approximated to the European ones. Georgia will make more vivid and specific steps in the coming years to prevent the air, soil and water pollution, ensure sustainable development of waste management, bio diversity,eco systems and natural resources, including urban areas and large cities.
Furthermore, the initiative to institutionalize an Environmental Ombudsman will further facilitate the communication, directly interacting with and getting a feedback from the society. This will contribute to the Government’s efficiency in addressing environmental issues.
Green policy of the Government is based on 4 components: Air quality control; transport policy; legislative regulations; and green infrastructure.
Air quality control
It is very important to develop effective programs for the protection of atmospheric air in urban areas. Each public institution, as well as private sector, will have specific obligations and recommendations to improve the quality of atmospheric air in the country as soon as possible.
From August 1, 2018 Georgia is introducing a European standard of air quality in the country. This will enabl to inspect the air quality nationwide by applying European standards.
Developing a web portal, in parallel with the introduction of European standards of air quality monitoring, wil constantly provide information to general public on the quality of air at specific locations.
Transport policy
Technical inspection reform of motorcars was launched from January 1, 2018, which will apply to all types of vehicles from the end of 2019. From October 1, 2018 vehicles with original registration within the territory of
Georgia will need to undergo periodic technical inspection as a compulsory measure within 30 days from the date of registration.
Priority of the GoG is to gradually substitute the outdated and depreciated pool of public transport in 2018- 2019. At the same time, a process of electric buss imports will be gradually launched, which will make the public transport most affordable and comfortable.
Transport policy implies not only the import of new vehicles, but also development of road network, the bike lanes and infrastructure for the disabled and pedestrians.
Thresholds of hazardous substances in petrol and diesel fuels will comply with European standards. Standard for petrol fuel has been already increased and the same approach will be applied to diesel fuel as well. From
October 1, 2018 Georgia will move to Euro 4 Fuel, while in 2020 is planned institutionalization of Euro 5.(Leaded petrol in Georgia is prohibited since 2005. All results of state fuel quality control as well as surveys provided by NGOs and Media shows that there is no leaded fuel in Georgia).
The Government plans to introduce a taxation preference system for eco-friendly transport. For cars with large engines (more than 3,5 liters) accounting for almost 10 percent of the total number of transport vehicles
in Georgia, taxes will be increased to stimulate the purchase of hybrid and electric cars.
Legislative regulations Government of Georgia is planning to introduce an integrated environmental permit system, which will oblige enterprises to substitute their technological cycles with modern technologies in the most efficient timeframe.
Also introduction of Eco-marking tool will incentivize the green initiatives, which implies the facilitation of environmentally clean technologies in the production and manufacturing.
Great importance is attached to the introduction of an environmental control system for the activities for high risk environmental impacts.
Government will increase effective control of the building sector which includes: transportation of the construction materials; taking into consideration hydro geological engineering aspects; Prevention of dust
particles generating in the construction process and use of energy efficient technologies.
Georgia plans to become a country-producer of very high quality and environmentally friendly goods. GoG has already introduced a VAT exemption on a certain group of natural products and now is oriented to introducing the lowest tax rates on the biologically clean, eco-friendly production.
One of the important components is energy efficiency. Most important priority of GoG will be to define and implement a relevant policy for proper management and optimization of energy consumption in energyintensive sectors of economy, along with the generation, transmission and consumption of energy at large.
Green infrastructure
Creation of new, green recreation areas in the cities, maintenance and upgrade of the existing recreational areas, investments in protected areas and development of all natural and man-made artificial eco systems represents another important point of green economy policy.
Care about forests represents another important point of the Green Economy policy. It includes complex reform of forestry sector, forest restoration and planting, recreation and development aimed at tourism promotion, along with fire prevention and strengthening measures for controlling forest use. It is planned also to incentivize the import of timber and the restriction of export of timber from Georgia.