Environmental and Social Policy Statement
This Policy Statement represents GSE’s commitment to the principles of sustainable development, environmental protection and social responsibility. An important objective of the GSE Environmental and Social (ES) Policy is proper development and implementation of an Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) to ensure compliance with Georgian legislation and international environmental, social, health and safety (ESHS) standards. GSE is committed to conducting business and providing services in a thoughtful and responsible way, with a view to preventing pollution and safeguarding the natural and social environment. GSE is dedicated to the continuous improvement of operational performance in order to reduce any adverse environmental and social impacts that result from company’s activities.
To achieve this, GSE hereby commits itself and its operations to the following:
- Designing, developing, operating, and maintaining the electricity transmission and dispatch system in a safe, reliable, sustainable, environmentally and socially responsible, and efficient manner;
- Complying with Georgian legislation and international standards;
- Using a proactive approach to identifying and evaluating environmental and social risks and impacts and applying the mitigation hierarchy to anticipate and avoid risks and impacts, where avoidance is impossible minimize such impacts, mitigate, and where appropriate compensate or off-set risks and impacts;
- Communicating and promoting awareness, accountability, and environmental and social responsibility among employees, customers, partners, suppliers, contractors, as well as government, the public, and other stakeholders;
- Ensuring all managers, supervisors and employees are aware of the organizational and of their individual responsibilities for environmental, social, and health and safety performance and that information and training is provided to enable employees and contractors to operate in a manner that minimizes risk to their health and to the environment;
- Providing mechanisms for employees and other stakeholders to express concerns and make suggestions about GSE’s activities and practices and acting in a transparent and accountable manner to address and respond to concerns and feedback;
- Ensuring effective management of safety and health of all GSE employees, the electricity transmission system users, and everyone who interacts with GSE facilities and operations;
- Minimizing the generation of waste products and ensuring that disposal of waste is conducted in a safe and environmentally sound manner;
- Considering safety andprotection of the environment and the population as critical factors in all business decisions, to appropriately balance economic, social and environmental outcomes;
- Developing and implementing procedures to prevent emergencies from arising, and to prepare for and respond to emergency situations that cannot be prevented;
- Minimizing risk for involuntary resettlement and mitigating the impacts on livelihoods by careful planning in consultation with affected persons;
- Establishing measurable objectives and targets for environmental and social performance in order to strive for continuous improvement. Over time, implement measures to ensure compliance with the ISO14001 standard for environmental management, the ISO45001 standard for occupational health and safety management, and the ISO26001 standard for social responsibility;
- Engaging in open dialogue with, and considering the views of local communities and stakeholders before making decisions that could affect those communities and community members via free, prior, and informed consultations;
- Ensuring that GSE’s procurement system considers the environmental, social, and health and safety credentials in of awarding contract and takes into account the full lifecycle of assets when procuring equipment or infrastructure;
- Actively supporting the development of new technologies and processes that could further improve environmental, social, and health and safety performance;
- Strictly adhering to GSE Employees’ Code of Conduct setting corporate principles of legal and ethical behavior, and requiring adherence to the same principles of all contractors involved in the construction or maintenance of GSE infrastructure;
- Ensuring this policy is accessible within the workplace and effectively implemented throughout all facilities and operations of GSE.
Approved by the GSE Board of Directors on the 13th day of August; 2019.
