Feature story |
||||||
| Home > News & events > 2006 feature stories > Environment is not forgotten in Georgia | ||||||
Environment is not forgotten in Georgia |
||||||
When a small, beautiful country has gone through years of political turmoil and deep economic decline, it would be tempting to allow businesses to run roughshod over the environment in the name of growth, job creation and stability. Georgia wants to avoid this fate. Blessed with the breathtaking vistas of the Caucasus mountains, the warm waters of the Black Sea, more than 850 lakes and an abundance of fertile land, the country is an environmental jewel. With their economy currently growing at a rate of roughly eight per cent, Georgians want to balance the need for development with that of protecting nature. The concern is not new. Back in the 1980s there were protests in Georgia against Soviet plans to build a railway through the high Caucasus, against the use of the Davit Gareja wilderness area for military training, and to stop a dam in Svaneti, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Since then, 200 non-governmental organisations for the protection of environment have been set up, keeping a close eye on the impact that foreign and local investment, which is booming in Georgia, is having on nature. The EBRD, which has been investing in the country since 1994, is involved in 50 projects in Georgia. These range from improving power infrastructure to refurbishing Tbilisi’s airport. The Bank hasn’t forgotten, however, to pay attention to the potential environmental impact of each investment. The Bank has now set itself the task of supporting Georgia’s Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources in reforming its environmental legislation. Further assistance is being provided to strengthen the ministry’s monitoring capacities so that the bill of economic development doesn’t fall on the shoulders of environment. What price growth? Georgia’s current galloping growth rate is a relief to many Georgians who have suffered economic hardship for well over a decade. But that is not the view of Manana Kochladze, Director of the Green Alternative non-governmental organisation. Her office in Tbilisi is simple. Pictures of rare animals and picturesque views of Georgia cover her office walls. “My country is sacrificing environment for the sake of economic development,” says Ms Kochladze. “It seems that the government has forgotten about the green agenda. Environmental legislation is being downgraded as a result of the aggressive economic liberalisation process. An example is the abolition of tax on environmental pollution - emissions to air and waste water discharges.” A law on environmental protection was approved back in 1996, but that doesn’t seem to be sufficient. Ms Kochaladze is concerned that “the law simply offers a framework. There is no monitoring system in this country and no incentive for the investor to improve the environmental standards. They will go to court, pay the fine and they will emit again and pollute the environment.” “The EBRD is the main investor in the country and it is important for the Bank to make sure that environment is being respected. This is part of the Bank’s Environmental Policy,” explains Dariusz Prasek, Head of Operational Support in the EBRD’s Environment Department. “We want to rely on the countries themselves to do the environmental monitoring and that is why the Bank is assisting the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources to build up its monitoring capacities so it can enforce its laws.” With the EBRD’s support an adviser is being hired to help the Ministry reform the environmental legislation. Grants for this have been provided by donors supporting the EBRD’s Early Transition Countries fund, created to back initiatives in the Bank’s seven poorest countries of operations, including Georgia. Once gaps in the law are filled and tasks are clearly divided between Ministry staff, the fund will also cover training expenses for those who will monitor projects. In the Ministry Badri Tcatava is supportive of the EBRD programme. He heads the governmental Environmental Monitoring Division tasked with monitoring projects posing potentially high environmental risk. He now dedicates 80 per cent of his time to monitoring the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project which has been partially financed by the EBRD. Says Mr Tcatava: “When the Georgian government approved this project, it also set conditions for the BP, the main partner in the project. For example, one of the conditions is that BP shouldn’t dig the soil if it rains because doing so can damage soil fertility. We have to make sure that every condition is being respected.” That’s the hard part. George Jaoshvili, Head of the governmental Centre of Monitoring and Forecasting says: “The law puts conditions on business activity but there are not enough people on the ground to monitor and catch any wrongdoings. Also, our task is to inform the ministry about any unlawful activity but it is unclear as to who is ultimately responsible for taking action” when the law is breached. While the spotlight is usually on foreign-backed projects, who is monitoring local companies? With water companies being the biggest local polluters thanks to sewage, the only official guidance is that local companies should monitor their environmental impact. “Together with the World Bank, USAID, OECD, the German government and the Dutch government, the EBRD is putting money and effort into bringing Georgia’s environmental law into line with international standards and giving public workers the skills needed to enforce the law,” says Dr Prasek. Ms Kochladze is supportive of training but having seen changes in the government all too often believes that “it should be delivered with the governmental guarantee that civil servants will remain in their jobs even if governments change. Otherwise the knowledge will be lost.”
By Marjola Xhunga, communications adviser
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
| Terms and conditions Sitemap Feedback | ||||||
