Advancing Dissemination of Environmental Information and Public Participation through Electronic Information Tools Aarhus MOP-5, Maastricht, July 1, 2014 Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia

Content Ongoing Activities Challenges Needs Next Steps Progress and Achievements Ongoing Activities Challenges Needs Next Steps 2

Progress and Achievements (1) MOU (JAN 2014) Data exchange calendar Instant update of environmental statistics data on Geostat website Bilateral working group (case-by-case): Recommendations&proposals Future needs and tasks Geostat staff capacity building in environmental statistics MoU between MOENRP and GEOSTAT Preliminary agreed calendar of data exchange Exchanging statistical information on a regular basis Opportunity of instantly renewing environmental statistics data on the website of Geostat Bilateral working group (case-by-case) Recommendations and proposals about producing statistical information Determining future needs and tasks Further strengthening of GEOSTAT with human resources in the environmental statistics is planned 3

Progress and Achievements (2) SEIS regional project (2010-2014) Survey on regular data flow on 8 environmental indicators (components: air,climate change,water,waste,biodiversity) Revealed missing indicators for Georgia (Total Phosphorus and Total Nitrogen concentration in main water bodies) Elaborated methods of analyses (Total P - ISO 6878:2004, Total N - ISO 11905-1:1997) Measurement of the new parameters started for: - Total N in 2013 - Total P in 2014 4

Synergies between ENPI-SEIS network and other projects (1) Twinning project: “Strengthening the Capacities of MENRP in Development and Improvement of Waste Management System in Georgia” (2011-2014) Draft law on waste management: Establishment of legal system of waste data reporting and its format Development of the control mechanism ensuring reliability, quality and compatibility of waste data Installation of server for Waste Database Next steps:  Data for air and water quality will be placed on the server 5

Synergies between ENPI-SEIS network and other projects (2) USAID project “Integrated Natural Resources Management in Watersheds (INRMW) – Program for Georgia” (2010-2014) Modernized State Water Use Accounting System (1st draft - July, 2014) User-friendly simplified statistic forms for water users New software for online reporting and summarization of information Visualization on GIS system 6

Enhanced cooperation of MENRP with EEA in accordance with SEIS principles (1) Officially endorsed in March 2014 SEIS principles implementation at national level Improvement of monitoring infrastructure Strengthen institutional cooperation Improve collection/sharing of environmental information Ensure sustainability of data flows Endorse the implementation of SEIS principles at national level to improve the data exchange and visibility of environmental information in accordance with the EEA/Eionet data policy; Legal Entity of Public Law (LEPL) Environmental Information and Education Centre was established in May, 2013; 7

LEPL Environmental Information and Education Centre - EIEC Enhanced cooperation of MENRP with EEA in accordance with SEIS principles (2) LEPL Environmental Information and Education Centre - EIEC Organize and administer SEIS Collect and share the environmental information Facilitate access to environmental information Endorse the implementation of SEIS principles at national level to improve the data exchange and visibility of environmental information in accordance with the EEA/Eionet data policy; Legal Entity of Public Law (LEPL) Environmental Information and Education Centre was established in May, 2013; 8

Data Reported Internationally UNEP Live Annual Average Air Data 2004-2013 5 cities, 8 comp. (Dust,SO2,NO2,NO,CO,Pb,O3,MnO2) Water Quality 2013 36 points Radioactivity Levels 2013 uneplive.org/country/index/ge 15 Cities Publications GEO-Cities, Tbilisi Report. 2012 Endorse the implementation of SEIS principles at national level to improve the data exchange and visibility of environmental information in accordance with the EEA/Eionet data policy; Legal Entity of Public Law (LEPL) Environmental Information and Education Centre was established in May, 2013; 9

Data Preparation for Reporting-WISE SoE methodologies 3 River Basins and 1 lake selected for Pilot Data Sharing in 2013 Conclusions Insufficient water quality monitoring points and measured parameters Different national data structure cannot provide all required information Lack of web-based environmental data management and reporting systems Lack of relevant qualified staff 10

Determinand_Nutrients Limit of Quantification Data for Rivers Country Code NationalStationID Year Aggregation Period Aggregation Months Aggregation Length Determinand_Nutrients Unit Nutrients CEN_ISO Number Of Samples Limit of Quantification Minimum Sample Depth GE 91.2 2013 Annual 1-12 Ammonium mg/l N EN ISO 7150-1 12 0.011 0.054 BOD5 mg/l O2 EN ISO 5815-1:2010 0.050 Orthophosphates mg/l P EN ISO 10304-1:2007 0.069 0.000 Nitrate 0.015 0.235 Nitrite 0.013 0.006 Dissolved oxygen EN ISO 25814:1992 7.400 Oxygen Saturation % 77 Temperature (water) °C EN ISO 6468 3.2 94.2 0.061 1.020

Main Challenges for Dissemination of EI and PP through EIT Outdated and weak environmental monitoring network Lack of self monitoring system by organizations Environmental data reliability Outdated data collection methods/databases Lack of required software 12

Next Steps EIEC is developing Web-based: interactive map for EIPs interactive calendar of public hearings of EIA reports database of EIA reports and relevant ecological expertise conclusions electronic service for PHs on different topics Separate page for PRTRs Initiation of development of entire electronic system for environmental information Since September, 2013, MoENRP has started implementation of the state E-governance Process that will improve the availability and transparency of Environmental information. 13

Thank you Nino Gokhelashvili Head, International Relations Division NFP to the Arhus Convention n.gokhelashvili@moe.gov.ge