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Otar Shamugia: “Sustainable development has a positive impact on the environment and the well-being of our population”
The 6th Ministerial Conference on Circular Economy was opened by the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, Mr. Otar Shamugia.
“We have set the transition to a circular economy as a priority and must manage the respective process as efficiently as possible. Georgia has already taken the first steps towards a circular economy. Therefore, the adoption of a Waste Management Code and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) was of the utmost importance. However, the successful transition towards the circular economy requires our active engagement and active participation of all branches of government, executive, legislative, business, financial and educational sectors, public organizations, and civil society. Moreover, the support of our international partners is crucial in the respective area. Additionally, sustainable development has a positive impact on the environment and the well-being of our population, while, adoption of a circular economy will help Georgia to fulfill its international obligations” Mr. Otar Shamugia stated.
The participants underlined the importance of education in accelerating the transition to a circular economy, noting, that educational institutions should play an important role in the adoption of the circular economy, including, conducting of training courses for highly qualified professionals in various fields.
In his speech, the Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Mr. Solomon Paliashvili noted, that transition to a circular economy is an inevitable process. The Interagency Coordination Council of the Government of Georgia was established under the leadership of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, embracing representatives of various Government agencies, aiming to facilitate the respective process. Moving to a circular economy will slow down the pressure on natural resources. Furthermore, new initiatives and new directions will make our economic potential more visible.
At the conference, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Mr. Shamugia expressed gratitude to the Swedish government for their support in implementing the project “Keep Georgia Tidy”. The project being implemented by the Georgian Society of Nature Explorers “Orchis”,with the support of the Swedish Government aims to raise awareness on the concept of circular economy and provide recommendations to various stakeholder groups.
It should be mentioned, that the 6th Ministerial Conference on Circular Economy was organized within the framework of the respective program.
During the conference, the participants provided recommendations to educational institutions and made suggestions on how the principles of circular economy can be incorporated into curricula, or how to raise awareness of the circular economy.
The meeting was attended by, Mr. Erik Illes, Head of Development Cooperation / Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Sweden, Representative of the Ministry of Education, Zaza Maruashvili, Head of the Environmental Information and Education Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Tamar Aladashvili and 35 representatives of Georgian public and private universities.