Georgia acceded to the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol in 1996. In addition to legislative and regulatory development, Georgia has invested heavily in building capacity to implement the MEAs. Capacity building targeted three sectors: customs officers, the private sector, and the public at large.
Customs Officers. To develop an effective system for monitoring and controlling the import of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS), the Ministry of Environment of Georgia organized a National Train-the-Trainers Workshop for Customs Officers on Monitoring and Control of ODS. This workshop was held in Tbilisi in 2003. The remaining customs and enforcement officers in the country are being trained by the trained customs trainers who participated in the first phase of the training. About 200 experts are expected be trained during the second phase. In 2003 and 2004, two workshops were organized using the trained customs officers as faculty. The Customs Academy of Georgia is expected to incorporate a training module on the Montreal Protocol and control and monitoring of ODS.
In addition to human capacity development, Georgia has sought to improve the technical resources of customs officers. Toward that end, Georgia obtained ODS identification equipment from UNEP for distribution at the main customs entry points.
Private Sector. Georgia has built the capacity of the private sector to implement the Ozone MEAs. It established two ODS recovery and recycling centers. Two training workshops were held in 1999 on recovery and recycling of ODS in the refrigeration service sector. Following the training, the National Ozone Unit (NOU) distributed 60 sets of recovery equipment to selected refrigeration technicians. In 2000, Georgia organized a Train the Trainers workshop on good practices in refrigeration. In 2001-2002, 30 workshops were held for 300 technicians in 4 cities. In addition, a training programme in the refrigeration sector has been approved for the remaining technicians (approximately 200), and the project is expected to start in 2004 with support from the Multilateral Fund.
The Government has also supported and encourages local industries to adopt ODS-free technologies. It is implementing (with support from UNDP) an incentive programme for end-users in the commercial and industrial refrigeration and refrigeration transport sub-sector. The Government also has a UNIDO-funded project to phase out methyl bromide in the soil fumigation sector, and demonstration projects are being conducted in the main greenhouse tomato producing areas in Georgia.
Public awareness. Georgia has used a wide range of approaches to build public awareness to promote the country’s strategy for an accelerated phase-out of ODS. These include:
- Awareness-raising in children’s summer schools (2000);
- Children’s pictures exhibition (2001);
- Animated film “Magnificent sky” (prepared based on children’s drawings). The film won prizes at several international festivals for environmental films (1999);
- Articles in the newspapers and magazines (1998-2003);
- Developing and playing advertisements, animated films, and shows for adults and children on television (2001-2003);
- Two large advertisement boards were placed in the capital of Georgia (2002);
- 5000 copies of a poster, developed by the NOU, were disseminated as a supplementary sheet to the popular Georgian newsletter in 2003;
- The national workshop on ODS Phase-Out Activities in Georgia (2002);
- Translation of the Handbook for the International Treaties for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. The first edition was published in 2000, the second in 2003;
- Translation, layout, printing, and dissemination by the NOU of the first and second Russian language versions of the OzonAction Newsletter in August and November of 2003. 2000 copies were printed and disseminated among Russian speaking countries operating under Article 5 of the Montreal Protocol and members of the Regional Network of Central and Eastern Europe/Central Asia as well as among non-Article 5 Russian speaking Countries with Economies in Transition.
For more information, contact gmep@access.sanet.ge