A public hearing was held on the draft resolutions on environmental responsibility proposed by the Georgian government

The EIEC of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture organized a public hearing on the draft resolutions of the Government of Georgia on Environmental Responsibility. It is important to note that public hearings promote the maximum involvement of stakeholders in the decision-making process.

The meeting was opened by the Director of the Eiec, Tamar Aladashvili. Archil Adamia, Head of the Legal Service of the Environmental Supervision Department, spoke about the Law on Environmental Liability. Chief State Inspector Neli Korkotadze introduced the draft bylaws to the participants.

The public hearing was held online and all interested parties had the opportunity to participate in it. Participants presented their views on the law.

The Law on Environmental Liability, adopted in 2021, is based on the principle of "polluter pay" and aims to promote the prevention and elimination of issues related to environmental damage. According to the law, if an enterprise significantly damages the environment as a result of its activities, it will be obliged to provide the necessary financial resources and to eliminate the damage to the environment.

It's worth noting that Georgia is the first country in Eastern Europe to establish an environmental fund. The amount paid to compensate for environmental harm is put into a special account in the state budget called the "environmental fund." The money accumulated in the fund will be used to plan and implement environmental improvement actions.

The draft bylaws of the Law of Georgia on Environmental Responsibility were developed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection  and Agriculture with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Government of Sweden, within the framework of the Governance Reform Fund (GRF) project.