Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

Nino Tandilashvili meets the new Director of the Energy Community Secretariat Arthur Lorkowski

Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Mrs. Nino Tandilashvili hosted the new Director  of the Energy Community Secretariat Arthur Lorkowski.
Mrs. Nino Tandilashvili congratulated Mr. Lorkowsky on his appointment to the new position and expressed hope that the cooperation between the Ministry and the Energy Community Secretariat will be further deepened. 
During the meeting, the fulfillment of obligations taken by Georgia under the Energy Community Treaty was discussed by sides, who also highlighted future plans in the climate change and environmental protection fields.
Mrs. Nino Tandilashvili spoke about the law on the "Environmental Assessment Code" adopted to ensure effective environmental governance in the country, which considers the principles of the EU Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) directives. The Deputy Minister noted, that in accordance with the Code, all activities that may have a significant effect on the environment or human life and health are subject to environmental impact assessment procedures.
Further improvement of the EIA and SEA systems in the country remains one of our top priorities. We plan to increase public awareness and engagement in the process. For this purpose, an electronic system of environmental assessment has been developed, which provides systematic and simplified public access to information related to the environmental assessment procedures, "- said Mrs. Nino Tandilashvili.
The conversation touched upon Georgia’s Updated Nationally Determined Contribution Document (NDC) and the Climate Change Strategy 2030 and Action Plan 2021-2023, which comply with the EU-Georgia Association Agreement and obligations taken under the relevant EU Directive. The action plan covers energy generation and transmission, waste management, agriculture, and forestry sectors.
Mrs. Tandilashvili stressed, that the Ministry considers the development of a legal framework for climate change as one of its priority activities.
"It should be mentioned, that currently there is no single legislative act in Georgia, that deals with the issues related to climate change. Thus, we are in the process of identifying the best options for the climate change law and sharing experience in this area will be crucial, "- said Mrs. Nino Tandilashvili.
Mr. Arthur Lorkowski noted, that Energy Community aims to improve the environmental situation in the country and promote energy efficiency measures and the use of renewable energy sources.
According to him, the Energy Community Society Secretariat is ready to assist in the development of climate change legislation in Georgia and, in general, to facilitate the harmonization of existing regulations in the environmental protection field with the EU standards.
The meeting was attended by  Dirk Buschle,  Deputy Director of the Energy Community Secretariat, Svetlana Karpishina, Head of the EU4Energy Program, and Maia Makharashvili, Local Representative of the Energy Community Secretariat.