On Monday, January 22, the Agricultural Policy Research Center (APRC) presented the results of the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) of the Draft Law of Georgia on Biodiversity to the stakeholders.

The RIA on the Draft Law of Georgia on Biodiversity was jointly implemented between July and December 2017 by an ISET team and the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and was financed by GIZ.

The biodiversity of the South Caucasus is of global importance, and Georgia is committed to meeting the goal of reducing negative factors directly affecting threatened natural habitats through the sustainable management of these habitats. National biodiversity law integrating these global demands was drafted by the Government of Georgia with the support of the international community in order to improve the regulatory framework of the country.

In order to conserve biodiversity and fulfill the obligations defined by the international conventions and Association Agreement (AA), the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture has initiated the Law on Biodiversity in 2015.

The ISET team was contracted by GIZ to implement the RIA aimed at measuring economic, social, and environmental consequences of the draft law in light of Agenda 2030 and support the law-making process. Apart from this, the project included capacity building of the Ministry’s staff regarding best practices for implementing RIA through the training sessions delivered by the ISET team.

The presentation of the results focused on the importance of biodiversity, the causes of biodiversity reduction, objectives of the draft law and unsettled issues, implications regarding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and many other aspects related to biodiversity.

The presentation was followed by a Q&A session and lively discussion.