Documents

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.

The Caspian region is a priority region for Russia in ecological, marine and economic aspects.  This is confirmed by the implementation of federal and regional programs, the development of academic and applied research in the Caspian Sea region of Russia, the regular various national/international meetings on the Caspian Sea issues and by the public active involvement.

The Tehran Convention, being a legal tool of the regional environmental cooperation, has a pivotal role to play in preventing and overcoming the region’s ecological problems.  The effective use of its mechanisms will make it possible to contribute to the implementation of the national project “Ecology” and the federal project “Clean Country”.

In the city of Makhachkala (the Republic of Dagestan), on 6-7 August, 2019, an event dedicated to the celebration of the “Caspian Sea Day” took place in the framework of the Tehran Convention (Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea).  It was organized following the Fifth Caspian Summit-2018 and ahead of the Sixth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Tehran Convention (November 2019, Baku, Azerbaijan).

The event was organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Dagestan through the National Convention Liaison Office- Center for International Projects.  I was held within the framework of meeting the national obligations under the Tehran Convention.

Draft Caspian Sea Plan Concerning Regional Cooperation in Combating Oil Pollution in Cases of Emergency (Aktau Protocol Implementation Plan).

The arrangements in the Aktau Protocol Implementation Plan are intended to facilitate the development of joint response operations and to co-ordinate the use of the available resources in the region. They also outline in advance the financial conditions and administrative clauses of the actions, thus permitting rapid intervention in case of emergency by removing the need for lengthy negotiations during the course of the event.

The present report on the State of the Environment of the Caspian Sea was developed in accordance with the requirements of the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (Tehran Convention, 2003) and is one of the regional environmental cooperation mechanisms to assess the state of the marine environment of the Caspian Sea, in particular, pollution and its impact, based on the reports provided by the Contracting Parties and any competent international organization.

The Caspian Sea SoE 2 Report in higher resolution can be dowloaded here. 

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

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. 

Baku 2017