Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev yesterday held a meeting to discuss environmental protection and waste management problems, according to Ferghana.ru.
Speaking at the meeting, Mirziyoyev noted that producers should assume the waste management expenditures. He pointed to the necessity of introducing the ‘the polluter pays’ principle in the country.
The president also ordered to upgrade the material-and-technical bases of the settlement improvement directorates and put landfills in order in compliance with sanitary requirements.
In this connection, Uzbekistan plans to adopt the law on punishment for pollution of territories, said Ferghana.ru.
In environmental law, ‘the polluter pays’ principle is enacted to make the party responsible for producing pollution responsible for paying for the damage done to the natural environment. It is regarded as a regional custom because of the strong support it has received in most Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and European Union countries. It is a fundamental principle in US environmental law.
The ‘polluter pays’ principle underpins environmental policy such as an ecotax, which, if enacted by government, deters and essentially reduces greenhouse gas emissions. This principle is based on the fact that as much as pollution is unavoidable, the person or industry that is responsible for the pollution must pay some money for the rehabilitation of the polluted environment.
