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The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015 (Resolution 70/1), “Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” defines the directions of the sustainable development for particular regions and states, including activities aimed at achieving a balanced and sustainable economy.

It contains seventeen sustainable development goals and one hundred sixty-nine targets, many of which are important for the activities under conventions and regional sea action plans.  Governments are responsible for the implementation of commitments to achieve these goals and targets, while the regional sea conventions are the basis for promotion of the corresponding regional activities.  The regional sea conventions reinforce the application of the ecosystem approach and form multilateral partnership for achieving the sustainable development goals.

In this regard, the event, which takes place in Astrakhan, 10-11 August 2017, under the Year of Ecology in the Russian Federation, is timed to the celebrations of the “Caspian Sea Day” under the Tehran Convention, might be considered as one of the most significant events in the calendar of the international environmental cooperation within the Caspian Sea region.

The event, organized by the Administration of the Astrakhan oblast, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation, PJSC “LUKOIL”, and Interim Tehran Convention Secretariat, traditionally brings together representatives of the Caspian littoral countries, executive authorities of different levels, experts, as well as business sector and academic community with a view of the professional discussion of the implementation of the provisions of the Tehran Convention in the context of sustainable development.

Year 2013 was declared by the Edict of the President of the Russian Federation as the Year of the Environment aimed at the implementation of one of the principle rights provided by the Constitution of the Russian Federation – “ensuring the right of every person for favourable environment”.  The executive authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation have been carrying out the relevant activities and events all the year round, which were planned in the frameworks of the Year of the Environment in Russia.

It is especially important that such a decision has been made at the background of the similar declaring of 2013 as the Year of Environmental Culture and Protection within the Commonwealth of Independent States.

In the attached document materials in English language are available in the second part of the document. 

Review of Kazakhstan's activities in fulfillment of obligations under the Tehran Convention

The Third–Sixth National Communication of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC) 

The article examines recent Caspian Sea level change by using both satellite radar altimetry and satellite gravity data. The altimetry record for 2002–2015 shows a declining level at a rate that is approximately 20 times greater than the rate of global sea level rise. Seasonal fluctuations are also much larger than in the world oceans. With a clearly defined geographic region and dominant signal magnitude, variations in the sea level and associated mass changes provide an excellent way to compare various approaches for processing satellite gravity data. 

Review of Kazakhstan's activities in fulfillment of obligations under the Tehran Convention

Baku 2017

Toxicity tests are commonly used as a tool to determine the standards of water quality for chemicals and to discover appropriate organisms as bioindicators in toxicological studies, and also could be used as an essential tool for evaluation of the pollutant effects in aquatic ecosystems. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the sensitivity of two Caspian fish species, Caspian trout as an endangered species and Caspian Kutum using the static acute toxicity in response to nonylphenol, which is widely discharged into the Caspian Sea environment.

In addition, Caspian trout was approximately 6 times more sensitive than Caspian Kutum. Nonylphenol was reflected to be "highly toxic" to Caspian trout and "moderately toxic" to Caspian Kutum. The results could be considered in preparing plans for conservation and restocking management of Caspian Kutum and the endangered Caspian trout. 

This report analyzes oil and natural gas in the Caspian region, focusing primarily on the littoral (coastal) countries of the Caspian Sea (Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran). A discussion of Uzbekistan is also included. While not a Caspian coastal state, a considerable amount of Uzbekistan's territory, along with its energy resources, lies in the geological Caspian basins.

The combination of foreign investment and rising energy prices allowed the coastal countries to shift from diverting oil extraction for local use to supplying both regional and world oil markets. The ability of countries to export greater volumes of Caspian crude oil and natural gas will depend on how quickly domestic energy demand rises in those countries, how quickly they can build additional export infrastructure to global markets, and whether expensive projects to develop Caspian resources can attract sufficient investment. 

The Forum is the first event held in the framework of theDay of Caspian Sea celebration .

"Oil and gas offshore fields' development, which is beingcarried out at difficult geological conditions, increases man-caused impacts on environment of the region and creates real emergencies, including oil spills, as hydrocarbon deposits are located in an ecologically sensitive area of ​​the sea. The consequences of possible industrial accident capable of impacting the territories of neighboring countries", said Bapy.

According to his words, for monitoring of oil fields in thenorth-eastern part of the sea, there was established the North Caspian ecological base for oil spill response. "Ak Beren" blowout response group specialists are annually trained in the UK.