Saying No to Exhaust Fumes – Civic Campaign for Clean Air

One of the most significant environmental issues worldwide is air pollution. In 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) published air pollution data for 4,300 cities in 108 countries. Research shows that virtually all European metropolises are affected by excessive pollution from microscopic dust particles (PM). The situation in Ankara, Turkey, Skopje, North Macedonia, and Tbilisi, Georgia, was identified by the WHO as the most critical. According to the same report, 3,741 people die each year from bad air quality in Georgia – levels here are three times the level of pollutants the WHO considers safe.

In 2020, the non-governmental organization “Green Pole” was founded with the purpose of improving air, water, and food quality in Georgia. One of the first environmental issues that the Green Pole team started working on was reducing exhaust fumes from the transport sector firstly through the public monitoring with social media platforms, as one of the main pollution sources in the biggest cities of Georgia, including the capital, Tbilisi, is transport. Following our continuous awareness campaigns about the health damage and the environmental problems caused by air pollution, it was becoming obvious that the general public was ready and willing to participate in a movement that would bring tangible changes for their well-being.

In April 2022, around 30 volunteers of Green Pole started collecting signatures from the Georgian citizens for the legislative change in the Administrative Offenses Code of Georgia to make it illegal to drive a vehicle with an exhaust exceeding the national limits set for pollutants. Green Pole volunteers had 60 calendar days to collect the signatures. We had to present at least 25,000 signatures in the parliament, and we managed to collect 30,500 signatures in total. The process was mostly done in the streets near the metro stations. There were some changes and adjustments made by the Ministry of the Environment and Agriculture of Georgia to the concept of the law and the means of monitoring, after which the law was finally passed by the parliament. It entered into force in July 2023 and the monitoring process started in September 2023. The law was first enforced in 4 major cities: Tbilisi, Rustavi, Batumi, and Kutaisi.

“It was a major accomplishment not only for us, but for the civil society in general, as this was the first case when a legislative change was made by the force of the Georgian people directly. I feel like it sparked a hope among the public to fight for their rights and believe that the change is possible through the joint effort.”, – says Giorgi Japaridze, the founder of Green Pole. “It was a very challenging and interesting experience, which tough us a lot, and we are planning to work on the similar activities in the future as well.”