Environment ministers and senior officials from Kazakhstan, Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran discussed concerns over threats to the Caspian Sea environment via a video conference on Tuesday.
The meeting was attended by Magzum Mirzagaliyev, head of Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Dmitry Kobylkin, Russia’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Mukhtar Babayev, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Bruno Pozzi, head of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Europe Office, Myrat Atajanov, director of the Caspian Sea Institute in Turkmenistan and Isa Kalantari, head of Iran’s Department of Environment, IRNA reported.
Emphasizing the importance of the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea known as the Tehran Convention adopted in 2003, the participants reiterated that the sea is under enormous strain due to pollution from oil extraction and refining, offshore oil fields, radioactive waste from nuclear power plants and rising volumes of untreated sewage and industrial waste.
“We (the littoral states) demonstrated our commitment to protecting and restoring the Caspian environment by signing the Framework Convention in Tehran. Some proposals have been drafted. Nonetheless, they are not binding and have not taken effect due to a lack of consensus,” Mirzagaliyev said, adding that delays in ratifying the protocols means more pollution and damage to the sea.
Arduous Task
The Kazakh official said protecting the Caspian Sea, the earth's largest inland body of water, is an arduous task and demands closer collaboration among the five nations.
According to Kobylkin, efforts for conservation of the sea depends also on setting up a secretariat.
“The permanent secretariat of Tehran Convention should be set up as soon as possible to help ensure regular” and effective monitoring of the sea.
In 2007, the 5 countries requested the United Nations Environment Program to temporarily carry out the functions of the convention until a permanent secretariat is put in place. Based on an agreement in 2014, UNEP was to administer the permanent secretariat in the region as of 2015 with the first office in Baku to later rotate among the littoral states in a four-year cycle. However, the Azeri government has been slow in setting up the office, delaying the preservation efforts.
Drawing a parallel between (unresolved and mounting) environmental problems in the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea, Kalantari said the Persian Gulf littoral states lack a political determination to protect it.
“Today we are struggling with many ecological problems in the region (the Persian Gulf). I hope the Caspian Sea neighbors have the political will to protect it.”
Worsening Conditions
Pointing to industrial and household waste dump and pollution caused by oil tankers from the littoral countries, Babayev said, “The sea’s condition is worsening. It’s undeniable that pollution is changing the environmental health of the sea.”
The head of UNEP Europe Office, Bruno Pozzi, said the Caspian littoral states need to pool minds, integrate their activities and efforts to protect the sea.
“An information exchange protocol has been prepared that will help the states coordinate their efforts to protect the sea more effectively,” Pozzi said without elaboration.
“Large number of livelihoods depend on the sea and pollution-related issues should be addressed sooner than later,” Atajanov said.
Meeting in the Kazakh port city of Aqtau in 2018, the leaders of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan signed a new convention on the legal status of the resource-rich Caspian Sea -- a matter disputed between the five neighbors for more than 20 years.
The Caspian Sea borders five countries and has an abundance of natural resources and diverse wildlife. The sea also contains large oil and natural gas reserves and is an important fishing source.
The sea supports many unique and ancient species remaining from the times when it was part of the Tethys Ocean during the Mesozoic era, approximately 300 million years ago.
