Legal Advice for Civil Society Groups in Georgia

Situation

ILP supported communities to resist threats to freshwater habitats, some of the most threatened on Earth. In the Republic of Georgia, the Rioni is one of only two rivers in the Black Sea region that are home to sturgeon, an ancient family of migratory fish that have been eliminated from most of their habitat across Eurasia and North America. The construction of a hydropower project threatened to wipe out five of the river’s other critically endangered subspecies.

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ILP’s Action

To protect these freshwater ecosystems, ILP’s lawyers helped environmentalists and representatives of local communities to review the agreements signed between the investors and the government and where they violated EU environmental obligations.

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Impact

A month later, amidst significant media scrutiny and popular protests, investors pulled out of mediation talks and terminated the construction plans. The plans also threatened hundreds of local villagers who would have had to be relocated.