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Solomon Pavliashvili, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia.
Q. What is the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia role in promoting green business?
A. Green business is a key instrument to support business development in a sustainable way and encourages to balance economic growth with environmental protection. It supports us to contribute to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals. The role of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia is to support and develop laws, policies and programs that promote green business. The Ministry supports the green business in different ways. Furthermore, it is very important to contribute to the public awareness-raising and behavior change towards sustainability. We are implementing various projects in all these directions. For example, as education is the initial and significant part of every process – the Environmental Information and Education Centre within the framework of EU4 Environment programme implements the online green economy course of the world’s leading educational platform – The One UN Climate Change Learning Partnership. There are also important forums held where the development of green economy and green business, promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises are discussed. In addition, in order to support green and circular business practices, legal provisions related to sustainable public procurement were elaborated as well. The draft decree of the Government of Georgia defines basic principles and means of implementing Sustainable Public Procurement in practice. Based on the requirements of the EU directives it includes the innovative concept of the life-cycle costing as well as the relevant calculator based on which the life-cycle costing can be measured. This concept can be considered as one of the effective instruments for the implementation of Sustainable Public Procurement. At the policy level, it is significant that with support of the Government of Sweden, we are working on the mapping of the circular economy in Georgia and we are planning to elaborate the circular economy strategy of Georgia as well. Number of projects are implemented in the country promoting green grants, eco-innovation, eco-labeling, energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies, etc.
Q. What is the role of green business in the development of the country? Does it respond to the UN Sustainable Development Goals?
A. Role of green business is crucial for the development of the country. Of course, it responds to the UN SDGs and it is core to fulfill SDGs at the national level and to contribute its implementation at the international level. Modern approaches based on the developed countries’ practice show that for the achieving of economic growth there will be necessary a new type of activities, directed towards the greening of the economy. In the long run, introduction of green economy and development of green businesses will promote to the decline in spending of businesses, promote to the competitiveness, rising of employment and incomes, development of new directions in business activities, production of ecologically clean and green products, development of sustainable transport system and ecotourism, introduction of smart and resource efficient technologies. As a result, we will receive an improving business environment, market diversification, more jobs and improved economic indicators. Results of development of green businesses in the country, by all means will be reflected in the implementation of UN SDG’s.
Q. What are the main challenges you see in terms of green business development in Georgia?
A. The field of green business is indeed challenging in Georgia. Since it is a developing process, it faces challenges in achieving financial stability and implementing responsible business conduct standards and practices. These challenges are usually related to increased competition, financial problems, incorrectly formed business models, product creation without preliminary market research and analysis, errors in planning marketing strategies, incorrectly selected partners, lack of investment and competencies in research and development, lack of appropriate infrastructure for innovation, increased costs for creating innovative products, etc.
The analysis of the different activities, programmes and projects dedicated to sustainable, inclusive and green development has revealed the necessity of awareness raising measures among business circles and especially SMEs, with regard to green economy opportunities and benefits from it. Therefore, we are implementing and supporting environmental education and awareness raising programmes at the national level targeted to various audiences. The lack of special financing, dedicated to the implementation of green business related projects, is a second main challenge for the development of green business in the country. The financial system has a key role to play here, as there is no sustainable development without sustainable financing, be it public or private.
Furthermore, another issue for the measurement and assessment of overall profit by business enterprises following the application of greener approach, rather than a traditional business model in a long-term perspective. Increasing the price for products and services can also be another issue of concern. It is equally important both for ensuring the implementation of environmental legislation and for providing incentives for the business to introduce green growth practices. Another issue is the lack of experience and capacity of the private sector.
Q. What legislative changes were made in 2021-2022 that contributed to the development of green business?
A. Development of the legislation and policy promoting green business practices is among the priority of the Government of Georgia. Despite the difficult situation related to Covid-19 pandemic, we are trying to approximate our legislation in regard to green development, to the best international practice. Therefore, Forest Code, the law on Energy Efficiency, Law on Energy Efficiency of Buildings, Law on Ambient Air, regulations of Extended Producer Responsibility have been adopted during the outbreak of Covid-19, have been adopted during the recent years. In the framework of the EU-funded EU4 Environment Programme, in close cooperation with the State Procurement Agency of Georgia and Environmental Information and Education Centre, Georgia drafted sustainability provisions and relevant articles to the draft Law of Georgia on Public Procurement. Furthermore, a draft decree of the Government of Georgia “On the Necessary Measures to Be Taken in Order to Achieve the Goal of Sustainable Development in Public Procurement” was prepared in the framework of the project. Draft decree regulates detailed provisions and approaches for the practical implementation of Sustainable Public Procurement and reflects requirements of the EU directives and international best practices.
Q. What role does public-private partnership play in the development of green business? – Can you underline some projects in this direction if we have?
A. Public-private dialogues play a significant role in the process of green and circular transition as the participation of the business operators makes the process more transparent and democratic. It contributed to preventing conflict among different groups and between the public and the government and it increases confidence in public institutions. Public-private discussions contribute to creating fair policies/laws reflective of real needs enriched with additional experience and expertise of the private sector; It facilitates cross-sector dialogue and adopts more forward and outward-looking solutions. For the effective management of such important and large-scale processes, it is crucial for the public and private sectors to work together. For these reasons a number of training, consultation workshops and dialogues have been conducted in the framework of various international projects.
For instance, in the framework of the EU-funded EU4Environment programme, awareness raising activities and trainings have been conducted for the Georgian economic operators, business associations, manufacturers and distributors in 2022. As the Sustainable Public Procurement is a new concept for Georgian legislation and practices, awareness of business and market players was essential for high-level competition on the market.
Municipal waste management sector is connected to public-private partnership as well. We have an example of this cooperation in one of the municipalities of Georgia, namely Sagarejo where the collection and transportation of municipal waste is implemented by the private sector.
Public-private partnership plays an important role in the implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR) too. Within the new reform launched in Georgia to support establishment of the Extended Producer Responsibility system at the national level, producers and Producer Responsibility Organizations will work closely to manage the specific waste streams. As long as the municipalities have their obligations on waste collection, they will have to work together to organize separate collection sites.
Q. Do you think that existing law is effective in terms of protecting Georgia from environmental offenders?
A. It should be mentioned that, on March 2, 2021 the Parliament of Georgia adopted Law of Georgia on Environmental Liability, which is fully in line with the obligations under the EU-Georgia Association Agreement and respective EU directive, aiming to develop a system of environmental liability based on “polluter pays principle” and serving the elimination/mitigation of environmental harm. The law established a completely new mechanism of environmental liability in Georgia, according to which a person causing significant damage
