Environmental impacts and sustainable development: results from public awareness and attitudes’ study in Georgia

In democratic countries, how sustainable the country’s development path will be, depends to a significant extent on the awareness and attitudes of the society. Within the framework of this project, it was possible to study the importance of environmental impacts within sustainable development in general and specifically for Georgia. In addition to the comprehensive literature review, online public survey was conducted within the project, in-depth interviews with various representatives of Georgian society (public organizations, business and private sector, research and academic institutions) were held together with a focus group with students. Results show that, in parallel with the sustainable development agenda, environmental field is important for the country as a whole, as well as for some part of the society, different stakeholders and organizations in Georgia. However, general public still prioritizes social and economic issues over environmental ones in the country. Hence, in order to make this area become more prioritized and the subject of evidence-based analysis in the future, more awareness raising and academic development of this field will be crucial.


Introduction
In democratic countries, how sustainable the country's development path will be, depends to a significant extent on the awareness and attitudes of the society.If a society's preferences lean more towards economic growth and environmental protection is not a priority, then more economic growthoriented policy decisions are legitimate in such a society.Conversely, if environmental protection is a higher priority for society than economic growth, such a country is more focused on actively pursuing environmental policies.The best case would be to balance these two directions, which is sustainable development, i.e. economic growth with less damage to the environment and focused on creating a healthy environment for future generations.
The importance of environmental and climate change policies has grown in the latest decades following the ecological challenges, biodiversity loss and increasing environmental pollution.These cause social, healthcare and economic losses worldwide.Numerous global platforms and international treaties have been created to tackle the challenges.Besides, numerous international and national models and indices, measuring the general level of human development and well-being in countries, were updated to integrate environmental components in their assessments.Some examples of such indices include, OECD's Well-being Dashboard [1], Human Development Index (HDI) [2], Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) [3], national welfare indicators of Australia [4], UK's National Well-Being Dashboard [5] etc.
The significance of the environmental governance in Georgia is also increasing in accordance with the international agenda (like Sustainable Development Goals, Paris Agreement, Association Agreement with European Union etc.), within which the country has set goals and strives to achieve sustainability 1269 (2023) 012026 IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1269/1/012026 2 in all areas of development.It is no surprise that, according to various studies and surveys, social and economic challenges (and not environmental ones) are the top priority for the majority of Georgian population.Although, it should be also taken into consideration that there are direct links between various environmental impacts and the physical as well as mental health and general welfare of the society.So, more activities towards increasing public awareness and understanding these linkages is necessary to efficiently target the sustainability agenda of the country.
The aim of this study is to give comprehensive literature review and theoretical background to understand the scientific and practical meanings of environmental impacts in general and specifically for Georgia.In addition, based on presented primary data sources, the paper further aims to examine Georgia's public awareness and attitudes regarding climate change and environmental protection issues in order to support and incentivize future scientific works in these directions.

Material and methods
This paper uses both primary and secondary research methods in the analysis.The latter is presented as a literature review.Its purpose is to (a) analyze international experience, reports and assessments regarding the importance of environmental impacts and their economic consequences; (b) present the case for Georgia, relevant data and statistics that show how environment and climate-related issues are understood in the country and what specific challenges the Georgian population have.
The primary research was conducted in the period of November, 2022 -February, 2023 for Georgia in the following three directions, using both qualitative and quantitative research methods: 1) Online survey with wider society; 2) In-depth interviews with key stakeholders; 3) Focus-group discussion with students.The purpose of the first part of the qualitative research (in-depth interviews) was to enrich the research with primary data based on information obtained directly from key stakeholders regarding the practice of environmental impact assessment and economic valuation of ecological effects in Georgia.For this, numbers of organizations from various sectors were communicated with, including the public sector, businesses and associations, and research and academic institutions.The second part of the qualitative research was conducted in the form of a focus group discussion with the students in the second (graduate) course of the master's degree in economics, who had completed the course of costbenefit analysis (CBA) at the Faculty of Economics and Business of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.The purpose of this focus group was to discuss the interest of the students towards environmental economics as well as analyze some aspects of economic valuation of environmental impacts.As for the quantitative research, an online survey was conducted for the general public using the web-site of QuestionPro.The survey aimed to assess the respondents' knowledge and attitudes towards environmental impacts, as well as their behaviors/responses to selected environmental aspects.Finally, 110 people across the country participated in the survey (34% men and 66% women) during 10 calendar days, the majority of participants (61%) were in the 26-35 age group.The results of the mentioned survey show important results and can serve as indicative for the development of similar researches in the future.

Theory/calculation
It is not surprising that as a country becomes more developed, its society becomes more aware of the importance of sustainable development, society clearly sees the direct connection between the environment and human physical and mental health [6].Research based on surveys in the US and European countries has shown that for the majority of the population, economic growth and environmental protection are compatible with each other, and at the same time, if a choice has to be made, environmental protection is even a higher priority for the majority of the population of rich countries [7].In contrast, the results of a study conducted in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries show that the simultaneous achievement of the economic and environmental goals of sustainable development are often incompatible with each other [8].However, it is worth noting that only the wealth of countries does not determine the higher priority of environmental issues in the respective societies.Moreover, studies show that the "Environmental Kuznets Curve" (EKC) (according to which environmental damage increases at the initial stage of economic development, however, this damage decreases in economically rich countries) is not confirmed in practice [9], [10].Studies have shown that the level of public education in countries is related to the right perception of environmental issues [8].It has also been proved that institutional, cultural and environmental factors are probably more important than the wealth of these countries on the choice of sustainable development by nations [11].
According to the latest survey of Environmental Performance Index (EPI) [12], deteriorating air quality and rapidly rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions pose especially urgent challenges for the world.Besides, the latest results of Ecological Footprints (EF) data [13] shows that only 28% of the world's countries have biological/ecological reserve, while all other countries are in ecological/biological deficit.It is also important to note that developed and high economy countries stand out with the best results in the above-mentioned EPI indicator, while the EF index does not confirm this positive relation between the variables.EF shows that the highest "ecological/biological reserve" is depicted in numbers of poor countries, in contrast to developed and economically strong countries (in other words, EKC is not confirmed here).
Environmental impacts take special role among non-market impacts, especially in light of the current global challenges, as well as within the framework of the sustainable development agenda of the world.It should be taken into consideration that today's ecological challenges are important not only from environmental and social points of view, but also directly from an economic perspective -"it's not just about biodiversity, it's about the whole economy" [14].Environmental impacts are often neglected due to the difficulty of assigning them an economic value.Nevertheless, numerous economic valuations and assessments are being done to prove scientific and practical implications of climate and environmentrelated effects on the welfare globally and for specific societies.
A number of studies and assessments indicate the economic losses caused by environmental damage.51 countries of the world will lose 10-20% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) only at the end of this decade in case of an ecosystem crisis [14].Back in 2008, the global economy lost 2-5 trillion US dollars due to deforestation [15].In the same period, the total cost of environmental degradation in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) was estimated at an average of 5.7% of GDP [16].According to more recent studies, for example, the cost of ecological degradation in Morocco reaches 3.5% of GDP [17] and in Indonesia it reaches 13% of GDP [18].According to the European Environmental Agency [19], between 1980 and 2020, economic losses equal to 487 billion Euros were recorded in the 27 member states of the EU due to climate-related events.According to Eurostat, in the same 27 member states of EU, heat, floods and hurricanes caused economic losses of 145 billion Euros during the last decade [20].
Environmental pollution is directly related to deterioration of human health and well-being.According to the World Health Organization [21], the vast majority of the world's population (99%) lives in areas where air pollution levels exceed the limits set by the WHO.For people living in such an environment, the risk of many diseases (heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, tumors and pneumonia) increases.Worldwide, 6.7 million people die every year from exposure to ambient and household air pollution.Moreover, the same organization estimates [22] that 24% of global deaths are linked to environmental pollution.It is worth noting that noise is considered the second worst cause of disease after air pollution.Noise-related illnesses include irritability, sleep disturbances, stress, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease [23].
The issue of environmental protection is particularly important for Georgia considering the current ecological challenges in the country.The damage caused by air pollution in Georgia exceeds USD 1 billion annually, which is approximately 6.2% of the country's GDP [24].In 2017 the total volume of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Georgia was 17.8 megatons, which is 11% more than the level in 2011 [25].It is also important to note that Georgia ranks 103rd in the world with a total of 39.1 point by EPI [26].Besides, the latest results of EF show a biological deficit for Georgia at the level of -1.06 [13] and puts the country in the 105th place in the world in terms of ecological sustainability.According to the information of the National Statistics Office of Georgia [27], in 2021, the emission of harmful substances into the atmospheric air from stationary sources reached 1241 thousand tons, which is 72% and 61% higher than the amount in 2011 and 2016, respectively.The amount of harmful substances released into the atmosphere by road transport in Georgia is also high, which in 2020, compared to 2010, increased by 64% and reached a total of 92.6 thousand tons.The total volume of greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide equivalent) in 2017 in Georgia amounted to 17.8 megatons, which was 11% more than in 2011.What about the health impacts of environmental degradation in Georgia, among the causes of death in the country in 2019-2021, diseases such as circulatory system diseases (on average 42%), tumors (on average 15%) and respiratory system diseases (on average 7%) have the largest shares [28].In addition, in the last 5-10 years, among the causes of death, the number of diseases such as mental and behavioral disorders and diseases of the nervous system has significantly increased in Georgia.These diseases, as mentioned above, are largely linked to the deterioration of environment in the area and has subsequent social and economic cost for the country.

4.1.
In-depth interviews with stakeholders This section presents the results of the in-depth interviews conducted with the main stakeholders participating in the study: (a) public organizations; (b) business and private sector; (c) academic and research organizations.
One part of public organizations noted that economic evaluations related to environmental protection are done in public agencies to a certain extent and mainly in accordance with the requirements stipulated by the law and relevant normative acts.Feasibility studies, preliminary studies and thematic studies are also carried out.For this purpose, together with the existing resources, external experts and specialists in the relevant field are invited.International organizations and donors support the involvement of various parties in these processes as well.The second part of public agencies noted that the system of economic assessments of environmental impacts is less developed in Georgia.Environmental sectors have multipurpose connections and fields of application -often it is related not only to ecology, but also to healthcare, agriculture, tourism, hydropower, etc.Currently, there are hardly any economic valuation studies of this multipurpose use, and there is an urgent need for such studies to be developed.It was also noted by a number of public agencies that there are problems with proper environmental data collection, sufficiency of data and their quality.It is important to improve the data of official statistics since without relevant statistical and baseline data, it is difficult to make any type of evidence-based analysis and economic assessments.
The representatives of the private sector pointed out that environmental issues are not a high priority in Georgia at this stage.There are other socio-economic problems in the country: occupied territories, unemployment issues and others.The young generation in Tbilisi is more interested in environmental topics.However, in general, since Georgia is a developing country, protecting the environment is a lower priority.It was also noted that it is important for the society to understand the importance of the protection of environment as well as consider the needs of the business and the importance of the business in the economy of Georgia.Business sector points out that public judgments often turn into emotional and populist attitudes, thus, independent authoritative studies and the participation of highly qualified experts in similar studies are important.Businesses also noted that, nowadays, they usually do not make voluntary environmental assessments and they mainly plan their environmental behaviors in accordance with the existing legislation -meaning that, they adapt their business activities to what is required by the current environmental regulation, like the newly adopted Environmental Assessment Code of Georgia [29], the Law of Georgia on Environmental Responsibility [30] etc. Although, business sector also noted that environmental issues have been receiving a lot of attention in recent years in companies.Even in the names of many enterprises, you can find "green", "ecology" to emphasize that the organization works according to environmental standards and its product/service is environmentally friendly (it is important to ensure that such environmental activities from business sector were real and not "greenwashing").
Representatives of academic and research organizations note that recently, student participation in environmental economics courses has decreased.The reason for this may be that students do not see the economic benefits of this specialization.Due to this low demand, it is difficult for the universities themselves to maintain such courses in the curriculum.The academia stresses the importance of development of environmental economics as a field from an economic point of view as environmental resources are a kind of capital.If this resource becomes scarce, its value will increase, and so will do associated health care costs and changes in quality of life.Academic and research organizations also mention the problem with environmental activists, stating that these activists often refuse to put a price on any environmental resource, saying "it's priceless".Academia considers such attitudes as a problem -if you don't assign a price to a resource, then someone else will come out and say that the price of that resource is zero.

4.2.
Focus-group with students Within the framework of the focus group, a discussion was held with the students about the students' interest in environmental economics and the practical use of CBA and economic assessment methods of environmental issues.
Regarding the interest in environmental economics, it was noted in the group that in general there is a great interest in this field, the mainstream of modern economics is being changed by these issues following the international sustainable development agenda and the importance of circular economy.Regarding the use of CBA to assess environmental impacts, participants noted that the challenges of CBA are the time, financial resources and qualified personnel required to conduct the analysis, as well as the issue of access to data/information and the monetization of impacts.However, students agree that without a CBA, there will be more uncertainty about specific issues.Although, it should be taken into account, that, as students noted, often, the benefits of projects from an economic and environmental point of view conflict with each other and the issue of social justice may come before economic efficiency in specific cases.

4.3.
Online survey with general public Online public survey collected data about the importance of environmental aspects in the people's daily lives as well as their general knowledge and attitudes regarding environmental impacts.
As the survey results show, absolute majority of respondents (86%) are interested in environmental protection and climate change issues, while 15% express less interest.The vast majority of surveyed participants (85% and 83%, respectively) have information about environmental pollution and climate change/global warming.The majority of participants (48%) assess their knowledge of environmental issues at an average level, 25% -at a high level and 11% -at a very high level.It is interesting how survey participants prioritize economic, social and environmental issues.Compared to economic issues, environmental issues are less important for 24% of participants, and more important for 20% of them.More than half of the participants (56%) consider these two issues to be of equal importance.Compared to social issues, 21% of respondents consider environmental issues to be less important, and for 18% of them they are more important.In this case, a larger part of the participants (61%) believes that these two issues are of equal importance.In general, economic issues are the highest priority for a large part of society, and environmental issues are the least priority (Figure 1).It is important that among the three most important issues of environmental protection (Figure 2), the majority of respondents name "air pollution, emissions and dust" (89%), "water pollution" (53%) and "preserving forests/increasing forest cover" (41%).Both the monetary evaluations and scores given by the survey participants to a number of listed environmental impacts show that the majority of respondents find issues related to air and water pollution, as well as deforestation, to be uniquely problematic.However, there is less public awareness and interest in environmental impacts and factors affecting human well-being, such as noise, recreation, or the beauty of landscapes and views.

. Top priority environmental protection issues
Respondents rated their attitudes (agreement and/or disagreement) to several common opinions regarding climate change and environmental protection (Table 1).As the results show, the responses are mostly "socially desirable".In one category, ("Rich countries should take care of the environment, poor countries have other more important concerns"), we see that relatively less (70%) support the opinion, while the remaining 30% either agree with the different priority approach of rich and poor countries to environmental protection or does not have a strong position regarding the question.

Opinion
Agreement / Disagreement Climate change is a normal and natural phenomenon, there is nothing special about it 81% does not agree The consequences of environmental pollution and climate change will be catastrophic for everyone 89% agree Rich countries should take care of the environment, poor countries have other more important concerns 70% does not agree, 15% does not have a strict position and 15% agree Businesses and enterprises should pay more attention to the protection of the environment 84% agree The government should give incentives to the population to care more about the environment 87% agree I will contribute to the environment only if others contribute 83% does not agree I personally feel a moral responsibility to protect the environment 92% agree We can all contribute a little to protect the environment 98% agree The survey participants stated that, in order to increase awareness about environmental protection, the scientifically proved information about environmental impacts is necessary to be conveyed in a concise and popular language/understandable manner.Some interviewees indicated that they would like to receive more information about current environmental activities in general, including the state's policies.It is also important for citizens to know what can be done at an individual level in their daily life and what is considered as good environmental behavior.The study shows that the majority of respondents (71%, 82% and 85%, respectively) consider the initiatives of the state, business and citizens in the direction of environmental protection to be insufficient (Figure 3).Respondents emphasized the need to tighten regulations, especially in the construction and transport sectors.

Figure 3. Attitudes of survey participants towards the environmental activities of different stakeholders
The survey assessed respondents' willingness to change their behavior/lifestyle in order to cause less damage to the environment -consequently, 76% of the respondents believe that such changes are highly expected, and for 15% of them, they are less expected.When asked whether they are willing to pay more to buy a product if it was made in accordance with environmental standards (Figure 4), 90% answered positively (including 30% saying "always", 54% -"sometimes" and 6% -"rarely").It should also be taken into account that the majority (66%) of research participants assess the financial situation of their families as "middle income" and 30% are "high middle income", and this factor, most probably, determines the high rate of positive answers to this question.

Figure 4. "Willingness to pay" of survey participants for a product made with environmental standards
At the end of the survey the respondents identified the most important things that can be done to tackle current environmental challenges.Among such issues, awareness raising and educational activities from a young age were given preference.The significance of evidence-based analysis was also emphasized by interviewees -some of them noted that there is a need for more reliable and scientific evidence about climate change that will influence the wider public.

Conclusion
The findings from this study show that the ecological challenges facing the world today are important not only from the environmental protection and social point of view, but also directly from the economic perspective.Practice shows that the EKC does not always work and, therefore, it is necessary to integrate ecological components into the country's development processes, regardless the economic situation of the nation.The damage that the world receives as a result of ecological degradation is significantly high and increasing.According to several international assessments (including EPI, EF), the world needs urgent actions for the environmental challenges facing the planet today.The study found that, compared to the wealth of particular nations, level of public education, cultural and institutional factors have a greater effect on how healthy the ecosystem will be in the country.
The results of the primary data collected for Georgia within this study indicate that environment and climate change are generally important themes to the Georgian population.Although, it is shown that this importance is seen at the global and country level more than personally on individual level.At the individual level, the population identifies social and economic problems as more problematic (thus, higher priority) issues than climate change and environmental protection.Moreover, among economic, social and environmental aspects of their lives, economic issues are the highest priority, and environmental issues are the least priority.The results from the in-depth interviews with interested parties in Georgia showed that public organizations and the private sector as well as research and educational institutions recognize the importance of economic analysis of environmental impacts and the need for academic and scientific development of this field.It was noted that discussions on such issues should not go into emotional and populist attitudes and be based on independent expert assessments, specific numbers and statistics.The necessity of developing data and statistics was highlighted here, since a justified economic analysis would be impossible without appropriate statistical support.The results of the focus group also confirmed that students have interest in environmental impact analysis and consider raising public awareness to be important for the future activation of this field.Additionally, the importance of environmental economics as an educational direction and scientific field was emphasized by diverse groups of stakeholders The study showed the importance of the close connection between environmental protection and sustainable development in the context of welfare economics.The results of the research show the importance of balanced, well-being-oriented policy decisions aiming to raise the public awareness as well as promote scientific and academic development of the field, particularly for Georgia.

6 Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Prioritization of economic, social and environmental issues