The Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee held the presentation of the spring session activity report and the “Green Space”.

The Chair of the Committee, Nino Tsilosani delivered the opening remarks to the attendees, including the representatives of the legislative and executive authorities, diplomatic missions, international organizations and NGOs.

“I am glad to see all our key allies attending this event, in cooperation with which we have finalized many interesting and important reforms. The openness and transparency are the key basic principles for our Committee and that is why we have been discussing important initiatives together with the parties concerned. And importantly, these initiatives have always been supported by our donor organizations”, - she stated.

The Deputy Director of USAID's Democracy, Governance, and Social Development Office, Laura Berger, and the Deputy Environmental Minister, Solomon Pavliashvili also addressed the attendees.

According to them, the activity of the Committee is a model indeed as in legislative direction, so in oversight terms. It is noteworthy that the Committee was one of the first in the history of Parliamentarism in Georgia, started the application of the oversight mechanisms on the enforcement of the normative acts in the Committee activity.

According to L. Berger, the USAID will further cooperate with the Committee.

As S. Pavliashvili stated, the Ministry has implemented many important legal changes in cooperation with the Committee as the cooperation between the legislative and the executive authorities, as well as with NGOs is quite successful.

N. Tsilosani introduced the activity report and dwelt on the laws and legal initiatives developed by the Committee. Despite the short activity year and deriving from the pandemic, the Committee had to adjust to the non-standard regime to finalize the reforms, including by means of the online meetings, communication with various groups to consider all the bills and initiatives, including the Forest Code, the law on Aquaculture, the law on extension of the protected areas etc.

The Committee also held the thematic inquiries and fulfilled its oversight function. “The project we have finalized is very important for us – the Green Budget. It is a new innovative product of the Committee envisaging the analysis of the main financial document during the next four years, consideration of the changes to the budget to make it greener, outlining the ecologic and environmental directions, stressing the human health and healthy environment”, - she stated.

The Committee held the thematic inquiry on the lead impact on the environment. “This inquiry envisaged the outlining of the action plan and other priority directions for the state to detect the lead sources and eliminate them. The environmental impact assessment was also one of the important processes we have finalized. It is in direct relation with the minimization of the damage to the environment as a result of various industrial or economic activities and the role of the state – the Ministry and the Parliament is crucial in this process”.

She named the Working Group on Environmental Pollution in Kvemo Kartli as one of the success stories of cooperation with the private sector and corporate responsibility.

She stressed two important processes concerning the green economy and the sustainable transport development platform to be finalized by the new Parliament. She introduced the efficiency analysis of the legal changes related to the e-engine vehicles, developed in cooperation with the donor organizations- USAID Georgia, GGI, and WFD.

At the end, she thanked the Ministry for active cooperation in actualization and legalization of the environmental protection issues. She thanked the donor and partner organizations for their technical and financial support.

After the report, the event was resumed with the discussion.

The reporters noted the special role of the Committee in enhancement of the environmental protection direction.

According to the First Vice-Speaker, Giorgi Volski, the green culture and green issues in general become the priority in Georgia and it is important.

“By the initiatives implemented in Georgia, green culture and green issues in energy, transport or any other sphere become the priority. I am glad to see the Committee highly contributing in this process and emphasizing and raising the issues of protected areas, forest etc”, - he noted.

There has been much done in this direction and people will try to be the protector of the environment.

He noted that unfortunately, due to the political confrontation in the country, such important issues are put to the shade. “These issues crucial for our children are almost lost in the political confrontations, with which unfortunately the reality in Georgia is characterized today. Those, seeing to the Committee activity in this direction, the activity of the Parliament, Government and private entities, can estimate the achievements. I would like to underlie that by the support of our international partners, and namely Germany, we have been highly progressed as on a regional, so on a world level. I would like to thank the Committee and all parties contributing in this direction”, - he ended his speech.

The Ambassador of Germany, H.E. Hubert Knirsch: “It is important to see how immense is the support to the environmental protection issues by the Parliament and the Committee”.

He gave a positive assessment to the committee activity and stressed the achievements: “I would like to congratulate the Committee with its achievements, including in adoption of the Forest Code. Besides, it has implemented many interesting initiatives but I am glad to see how immense is the support to the environmental protection issues by the Parliament and the Committee. It is essential when the country and its population are engaged in environmental protection issues. Many of our partners work on environmental protection policy documents. Germany provided the greatest part of the financial and technical aid, which was partially reflected in the financial support document, signed last week. This direction will aim at improvement of the forest sector and protected areas, covering Tbilisi, Batumi territories, renewable energies, aqua-resources and it is the greatest part of Georgia-Germany relations and we are hopeful for the future cooperation”.

According to the Director of the Environmental Organization “Green Alternative”, Irakli Macharashvili, the bills adopted by the Parliament with the II reading – on Creation and Management of Aragvi Protected Landscape; and on Creation and Management of Truso Protected Landscape are revolutionary, the last versions of which have been developed in cooperation of the experts and local population.

“I hope, the Parliament will finalize and adopt the bills with the III reading as they are truly revolutionary in terms that they create a high standard of civic participation in the environmental protection decision-making process. I would like to thank the partner organizations, the GYLA and EMC for their cooperation and aid, and would like to thank you for adopting the version developed in cooperation of the experts and the society”, - he addressed the Chair of the Committee.

The Chair of the “Green Movement/Earth Friends-Georgia”, Nino Chkhobadze: “I would like to thank the Committee, the Staff for their activity as we encounter the acutest challenges today in terms of environmental protection. The society raised its voice and it is already substantiated that the pandemic affecting the whole world is entailed with environmental problems, and namely the climate changes. Mankind accepted this challenge and thus, put the Committee on the most serious task. Your Committee is dignified for managing to hold the hearings even during the pandemic and managing to achieve the high civic engagement in this process, especially in consideration of the environmental impact assessment document. It was a hard period you had to work as all the commitments envisaged under the EUAA just are becoming effective and the hard period begins. And the steps you have taken was the model of the quality of development of the documents for enforcement of the EU agreement”.

According to her, the Committee was open for society. Giorgi Kolbin, on behalf of GIZ, stated that GIZ, backed by the German Government, actively cooperates with the Georgian Government in terms of forest sector regulation. “We all understand the importance of the Parliament in this term as none of the reforms can be undertaken without the respective legal frame, and we highly hail the efforts of the Parliament and the Committee in adoption of the new Forest Code. The adoption of this Code for us is a sign of the political will and sustainability of the processes in the forest reform. This law is very important and the beginning of a hard way and we hope for productive cooperation in this direction”, - he noted.

According to the member of Sakdrisi Committee, Nino Burchuladze, it is to be underlined the role of the former and current Chairs of the Committee – Kakha Kutchava and Nino Tsilosani in cooperation with the environmental protectors.

As she noted, they shared the positions of the environmental protectors and jointly set up the Working Group on Environmental Pollution in Kvemo Kartli. “We have set up the platform allowing us forcing the RMG company for the last two years take the steps that it has not taken for 40 years. We have been remaining on the “battlefield” for 2 years and did our best to achieve the outcomes in Kvemo Kartli, namely Dmanisi and Bolnisi regions. Such platforms in general will help us, the activists, to bring our positions and arguments to the authority”.

The First Deputy Chair of the Committee, Sulkhan Makhatadze and the Committee member, Zaza Khutsishvili emphasized the standalone directions of the activity. Environmental issues in this Parliament are on a high level, though there is much to do. They hoped that the state will allocate the higher resources for this direction and the Parliament will keep activity in implementation of environmental and nature protection plans and the reforms.

After introduction of the activity report, the Committee opened the “Green Space” in the Parliament.

The Speaker, Archil Talakvadze, the German Ambassador, H.E. Hubert Knirsch, and the Chair of the Committee, Nino Tsilosani participated in the official opening ceremony.

They addressed the attendees. According to N. Tsilosani, the Green Space was open with support of the Speaker and by the Committee initiative and includes the concept – public awareness on ecology.

The Space provides the informative stand introducing all the bills related to environment, nature and ecology and is accessible for the society. It introduces the Committee activity thematic stands, informative plats installed by support of the partner organizations, and the whole corner is made in green. The Green Space envisages the ecologic priorities, meaning “recycle, use less, and use the secondary items”. It aims at the facilitation of the public awareness on ecologic culture, development of individual skills on fighting against the climate changes, establishment of the green office principles in the routine activity of the Parliament.

According to the Speaker, “Georgian Dream”, along with the education and economy reforms, will attach higher attention to environmental protection. “Environmental protection is and will be of higher importance in public policy terms. It is paramount to attach higher attention to it in public policy to achieve the progress. thus, the Parliament and our political party “Georgian Dream”, along with the education and economy reforms, will attach hither attention to environmental protection”.

He confirmed that environmental protection and rational use of nature will be strongly reflected in the Parliamentary agenda, the program of the ruling party and the public policy.

“Environment, green policy, green economy and green legislation are the relevant issues in direct relations with our routine life, health, future of our children, economic growth of the country and other important directions”, - he noted.

He emphasized the laws to be amended as a result of the Committee activity, namely the Forest Code, Energy Efficiency package, legal initiatives on Wastes and Waste Recycling, as well as on Water Resources, and Water Integrated Management.

The Speaker thanked the international partners for their support and the Committee and its staff for their hard work.

The Committee, in implementing the Green Space project, was backed by: ECOserve (backed by GIZ and BMZ); Forest Sustainable Management for Rural Development (implemented by CENN, funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation).