Green Management - the Most Important Condition for the Revival of Green Economy

Abstract

Green or environmental management, which is often referred to as eco-management, is a component of management theory and practice, the ultimate goal of which is the rational use of resources without harming the natural environment.
In the development plans of the country or its regions developed at the beginning of the transition period to Soviet-era and market relations in Georgia, the main attention was shifted to economic and social aspects, and less attention was paid to environmental measures. Currently, the situation in this regard has changed radically, almost no important program or project is developed without environmental impact assessment (EIA), strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and other necessary studies. The amount of funding for environmental measures has also increased, for example, 189.4 million GEL has been allocated from the state budget of Georgia to finance environmental protection programs in 2024, while only 30.9 million GEL was allocated for this purpose in 2013, i.e. approximately 6 times less. It should also be noted that in the 2013 budget there were no allocations at all for environmental protection, such as waste collection and disposal, wastewater management, pollution control, etc. This is undoubtedly a step forward.
It should be noted here that the development and full implementation of state targeted programs in any area (for example, in the field of employment) is an effective tool for overcoming existing problems, and it is gratifying that the fourth national program of environmental measures for 2022-2026 is currently being implemented in Georgia and after summing up its results, the implementation of the fifth national program (2027-2031) is expected.
The Georgian Environmental Action Program for 2022-2026 is presented in 6 chapters and 3 annexes. The program presents its goals and objectives, performance indicators, key indicators, time frames for implementation and coordination of planned actions, as well as monitoring and evaluation mechanisms based on a detailed situational analysis carried out across 13 sectoral priorities.
In overcoming environmental problems in any country, the involvement of all parts of the state is of particular importance, but in achieving overall success, the participation of business and the population is equally important, and this is evident from the above-mentioned program. It is a fact that in this regard, in Georgia, the situation is improving year by year, both business and the population increasingly share the need to implement environmental actions.
The management mechanism of the above program deserves attention. It is mentioned that the main coordinating body for the implementation of the program is the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, and the policy coordination and analysis department of the same ministry performs the function of the secretariat. Due to the fact that the program involves services under the jurisdiction of various ministries, non-governmental organizations, municipalities, as well as the population, by order of the Minister of Environment and Agriculture of Georgia, a working group for the implementation of the program was created, which includes representatives of the Ministry environment and agriculture, as well as other departments. A five-year action plan for the implementation of the program has been written (Anex 1), which facilitates its management.
In view of the complexity, diversity and versatility of the management system, in our opinion, it would be advisable to entrust the overall management of this program to a government group or commission, the head of which would be the country's Deputy Prime Minister. The fact is that neither the aforementioned secretariat, nor the working group, nor even the minister, unlike the deputy prime minister, have any levers of direct influence on ministries, municipalities, and non-governmental organizations.
When carefully developing and successfully implementing five-year targeted environmental protection programs, it is important to effectively monitor the progress of annual planning tasks and fully evaluate their results. From the relevant information it is clear that the current practice in Georgia in this regard is not bad, but we believe that if an external audit is included in the summing up and evaluation of the results of monitoring the implementation of the environmental program, the final result will be better.
The entire composition of municipalities (and not just a few) should participate in the development and realization of programs to be implemented in the environmental field, as well as in the preparation of the national report on the state of the environment, because this or that issue of environmental protection concerns almost all municipalities of greater or lesser size;
In general, it should be noted that the successful implementation of the fourth national environmental protection action program of Georgia for the years 2022-2026 will, on the one hand, play an important role in the socio-economic and sustainable development of the country, and on the other hand, it will be a powerful step forward on the way to the integration of our country into the European Union.