Is there a national regulation of carbon credits in Georgia?

No. Environmental legislation creates no emissions-trading scheme and no registry of credit issuance. Only the authorization and monitoring of greenhouse-gas emissions are regulated.

Who issues the emissions authorization?

For activities determined by government decree, except aviation — the National Environment Agency; for aviation activities — the Civil Aviation Agency. The authorization is issued for an unlimited term.

When does the authorization lapse?

On the holder’s request; also if within 5 years the activity has not commenced, or if it has been suspended for 2 calendar years without substantiated repair or renewal works — in addition to the general grounds.

When is the annual emissions report due?

Annually, no later than 31 March of the respective year, in verified form; the verified report is published on the environmental information portal within 5 working days.

Carbon Credits in Tbilisi, Georgia

Carbon Credits in Georgian Law — the Absence of Regulation

We start with the main point directly: in Georgian environmental legislation the carbon credit, as a tradable instrument, is not separately regulated. The norms at this page’s foundation create no emissions-trading scheme, establish no national registry for the issuance or identification of credits, and define no status of a credit as a proprietary right. What the law does regulate is the regime of authorization and monitoring of greenhouse-gas emissions — which is not the trading of credits. So if you are looking for an answer on buying or selling credits, this page offers the legal backdrop within which such transactions take place, together with a plain statement that a separate scheme does not exist in the law.

The Law’s Goals — the Regulatory Backdrop

The principal goals of the environmental protection law define the frame within which climate matters are resolved: the law protects the human right to live in an environment harmless to health and to enjoy the natural and cultural environment; it provides for state protection of the environment and rational nature use, taking into account the interests of present and future generations; it promotes biological diversity and ecological balance; and it legally secures the resolution of common global and regional environmental problems and the conditions of the country’s sustainable development. These goals explain why emission control sits at the center of the state’s attention — but the list of goals contains no mechanism for trading credits.

Basic Definitions

The law’s definitions assemble the conceptual apparatus within which climate regulation works: the environment — the totality of the natural and the human-transformed (cultural) environment; environmental protection — a set of measures securing the maintenance and restoration of natural equilibrium; integrated control — a pollution-regulation system resting on the integrated control of pollution of land, water and atmospheric air; and best available technology — the most effective and economically accessible technology from an environmental standpoint. The same article contains the definition of the verifier: a person accredited to verify the annual greenhouse-gas emissions report — by the unified national accreditation body or through the experience of European accreditation cooperation. That norm enters into force from 1 January 2028.

Carbon Credits