“Gavigudet” Attended the Conference On Air Quality Monitoring Assessment

Today, on October 11, “Gavigudet” attended the conference called “Air quality monitoring: current progress, challenges and future directions”.

The expansion/improvement of the air quality monitoring network in Georgia is carried out within the framework of the United Nations Development Program “Governance Reform Fund”, which is implemented with the financial support of Sweden. Accordingly, the conference was opened with a speech by representatives of the Swedish Embassy and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), where they noted that Georgia ranks 124th out of 180 countries in terms of air quality, and to achieve progress in this regard, it is necessary to strengthen/improve the legal framework, green infrastructure and institutional sustainability.

At the conference, the representatives of the Atmospheric Air Division of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, the National Environmental Agency and the national expert made a report.

Speakers discussed topics as follows:

– The air quality assessment system. As it became clear, the compliance of this system with European standards began in 2016 with the installation of 3 automatic monitoring stations in Tbilisi (Tsereteli Ave., Kazbegi Ave., Varketeli);

– The legal, political and legislative frameworks that Georgia currently has in the direction of atmospheric air quality;

– Air quality management plans – 2 of which, Tbilisi and Rustavi, have been completed; one, for the central zone – current; And for the years 2023-2025, air management plans for Tbilisi agglomeration, Black Sea zone and Western zone will be developed;

– Monitoring situation, perspectives and challenges.

As it turns out, within the framework of this program, 8 air quality monitoring stations will be installed in Georgia by the end of 2023, one of which will be a mobile station. 4 new cities will be added to the existing cities (Rustavi, Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi): Telavi, Mestia, Akhaltsikhe and Zugdidi. According to the plan, we will have a total of 27 monitoring stations in Georgia by 2027.

One of the important results of the project is “zoom” modeling of air quality, according to which, air management plans of the western zone will be developed with a resolution of 1 kilometer, which is an important tool for better assessment of the situation in this area. This will contribute to a better definition of future actions/policies.

In addition, the national expert reviewed the Air Quality Improvement Action Plan for the Central Zone and the basis for its development. The central zone includes 12 municipalities, and 71% of particulate matter emission in this zone falls on Rustavi. The plan combines 4 tasks and the main goal is to reduce the emission of particulate matter.

Let us remind you that one of the members of the working group of this plan was “Gavigudet” and we are glad that the expert also mentioned the role of the civil sector in the process of developing the plan.

The Mayor of Rustavi also addressed us at the conference and noted that with new infrastructure and urban development, the City Hall is trying to contribute to the improvement of air quality, for example, the renovation of the municipal bus park. In addition, the mayor emphasized the importance of floodplain forest development.

The representatives of the Ministry also talked about the future plans within the program, which includes:

– Expansion of the air quality monitoring system;

– Introduction of the forecasting system;

– Expanding the data validation/verification system;

– Expansion of modeling;

– Create a reference laboratory.

There are still many challenges in the field of atmospheric air quality. We hope that the activities provided for by this program will be fully implemented and within the established time frame and will contribute to the timely resolution of the problem.