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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. 

Presentation by Professor Ramiz M. Mammadov (Institute of Geography, NANA). 

The Institute of Geography of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences have the honour to propose the development of the Atlas of the Caspian Sea (electronic and paper version), which aims to be a product of international scientific collaboration among the five Caspian states. The Atlas should serve the purpose of collecting and maintaining a comprehensive data on the state of the environment of the Caspian Sea and lay the scientific foundation for the environmental monitoring programme and implementation of other provisions of the Convention and its Protocols.

National Convention Action Plan NCAP of the five Parties - Year 2012

The main focus of review: To determine the Status of invasive species with special attention to the most aggressive invader Mnemiopsis leidyi in the Caspian Sea.

Objectives:

1. To assess vectors, pathways of invasive species introduction, their composition and their role in the Caspian ecosystem.

2. To analyze seasonal and interannual dynamics of the Mnemiopsis leidyi population in the all areas of the Caspian Sea; its impacts on the Caspian ecosystem including food recourses (zooplankton) and fish stocks along with other emerging environmental threats such as increased nutrient load from the coast, structural and quantitative changes in phyto-and-zooplankton communities, the appearance of harmful algal bloom (HAB) in the Southern Caspian.

3. To prepare recommendations for follow-up actions on invasive species management: - for the protection and control of the Caspian Sea from any sources of accidental invasive species introductions - for possibility of biological control of invader Mnemiopsis leidyi.

The primary source of this Review has been national reports from every of the five Caspian littoral countries, which included results of national observations of ecosystem state and biodiversity of the Caspian Sea. But due to fragmental data of the national observations on invasive species

Objectives of the project included the organization and performance of the coast-wide awareness campaign in Turkmenbashi and Awaza area devoted to the Caspian Sea Day celebration. The project was prepared and agreed with the program of Celebration with the Ministry of Nature Protection of Turkmenistan, which supposed to be held in hotel “Dayanch” on the Caspian coast. The events were planned for August 10-11, 2012. However due to force-major reasons, upon arrival of participants of the event to Turkmenbashy city, the organizers were asked to postpone the event. It was decided to perform it in Ashgabat at the premises of the Institute of Deserts. Due to the summer beach time, it was impossible to change tickets and go back to Ashgabat earlier. Thus the Caspian Day event was then again prepared and performed in Ashgabat.

The calculations were made using the MARKAL modeling tool and were based on strategic development plans for different economic sectors. The Communication assesses electricity saving potential in respect of energy efficiency and lower carbon intensity. It also reflects the possible costs related to GHG emissions reduction measures in all economic sectors.

For the first time in Kazakhstan we have analysed the influence of climate change on forests and human health, as well as the data on mudflow activity and the change in glaciers. For climate change calculations, we used the data of the hottest decade (1995- 2005) combined with unified WMO methodology and climate change indices. Climate change scenaria were developed using the most recent ocean-atmosphere circulation models.

Nurgali Ashimov
Minister of Environment Protection Republic of Kazakhstan 

The approach used in this assessment was to collect and analyze information on biodiversity and related areas through documentation searches and interviews with key individuals and organizations concerned with biodiversity, both throughout Kazakhstan and in Washington, D.C. (see Annex C, List of Persons Contacted). An extensive series of field trips was undertaken. 

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.

State Nature Reserve "Akzhaiyk" (Kazakh "Aқzhayyқ" memlekettіk tabiғi reserves) is located in the Makhambet Atyrau region, in the surrounding lands outside the city of Atyrau. It was created by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on February 6, 2009 in the delta of the Ural River and the adjacent coast of the Caspian Sea. [1] The Ural River Delta and the adjacent coast of the Caspian Sea is included in the list of wetlands of international importance. The reserve was the second Kazakh territory after the Tengiz-Korgalzhyn lake system, which went down in the list. The hydrological regime is characterized by a gradual rise the water level in the Ural River in the second half of April, with the transition in May-June in spring and summer, with a peak at the end of May or the first half of of June. After the first flood peak starts fast and then gradual decline, passing in August and September in the autumn low water.

The Ural sturgeon yield-to-fishery relative to river discharge was the highest in the Caspian Sea till recently. The environmental conditions to secure natural reproduction are still satisfactory for successful sturgeon reproduction. However, nowadays the catch in all regional sturgeon species is negligible. The Ural sturgeon population dynamics are analyzed along with some anthropogenic and natural factors affecting them. It is argued that legal overfishing (including all legal means of fish removal), based upon (a) faulty estimations of sturgeon stock and catch limits and (b) inappropriate fishery policies are the principal reasons for the stock decline in the Ural. The maintenance of the natural reproduction in the Ural is considered to be the primary strategy for the stock replenishment. If used at all, artificial propagation should be used only as an additional secondary option exclusively at the historical sturgeon habitats upstream the Ural river and not in the river delta, where the hatcheries are located now. Transboundary cooperation of basin countries with active inter- national involvement is essential to prevent further deterioration of the situation. ***The attached copy is furnished to the author for non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the author’s institution, sharing with colleagues and providing to institution administration. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the chapter (e.g. in Word or TEX form) to their personal website or institutional repository.***

Being an annual official statistical issue reflecting processes occurred in social, economic, demographic and ecological life of the country the yearbook is prepared based on data of statistical report forms, censuses, sample surveys and other statistical observation forms received by statistical bodies from enterprises, organizations, households and natural entities as well as from ministries, committees, departments and international organizations.

The Statistical Yearbook reflecting social-economic indicators of 2014 in comparison with indicators of 2005-2013 will meet data requirements of widerange of readers and other users.

The document represents the second national report of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It presents national situational analysis, information on emissions and removals of greenhouse gases (GHGs), overview the activities Azerbaijan undertakes to implement the Convention, assessment of vulnerability to climate change, and calls for adaptation measures.

The document is published within the framework of the joint project of the Government of Azerbaijan and United Nations Development Programme "Enabling Activities for the Preparation of Azerbaiijan's Second National Communication to the UNFCCC" with the financial support of the Global Environmantal Facility (GEF).

The Tauw Consortium (TC) formed by Tauw bv - the Netherlands, Milieukontakt International (MKI) - the Netherlands, International HCH and Pesticides Association (IHPA) - Denmark and COWI A/S - Denmark, was selected by the World Bank in October 2009 to execute a Caspian regional POPs workshop in Azerbaijan. TC forms a strong OP, POP and hazardous chemicals team that has cooperated in different combinations in many projects in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Local partner was Mr. Islam Muslim Mustafayev the director of the Azerbaijan branch of the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network.

The workshop aiming at the improvement of obsolete pesticides management was held at the World Bank Office in Baku, from 7 till 11 December 2009 with participants from the five Caspian littoral states and donor organizations (World Bank, FAO). The workshop comprised sessions on: - An update on implementation of international requirements related to obsolete/ POPs pesticides - Development and strengthening of legal and institutional framework - Public awareness raising - Technical problems and priorities The workshop was held as an interactive workshop in which participants presented the current state of the abovementioned aspects of pesticide management for their country. Difficulties and gaps were discussed and ideas were developed in order to bridge the gaps identified. A legal gap analysis showed that in all countries there are gaps in legislation concerning the pesticides cycle. POPs often are not included and legislation needs to be aligned with international requirements. There is a lack of coordination between institutions and stakeholders in most countries. In many countries environmental and human health problems related to obsolete pesticide stocks are aggravated by a lack of awareness. Russia and Azerbaijan presented their experiences with inventory and technical difficulties. The presentations showed that there are problems with planning and coordination, a lack of environmentally sound storage capacity, a lack of knowledge concerning the scale of the problem (reliable and complete national inventory) and a lack of knowledge concerning handling of liquid pesticides. Action plans were presented, which for some countries like Russia, were plans of different options (signing the convention, detailed inventory, pilot on implementation PSMS). Also for Turkmenistan, ratification of the Stockholm Convention is a big challenge. For other countries like Azerbaijan, there is a follow up project about to start. Therefore the action plan for Azerbaijan comprises a number of defined steps already (capacity building, full national inventory). Iran presented an action plan for repackaging of obsolete pesticides in the Golestan province.

Sampling was conducted from the vessel Svetlomor 2 by personnel from AmC, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (MENR) and SOCAR. Sediment samples for physical and chemical analysis consisted of 2 replicates, while 3 replicates were taken for biological analyses. Analyses were carried out at AmC Caspian Environmental Laboratory.

Sediments around Central Azeri were very poorly sorted, the majority being a mixture of sand and gravel. At many stations, the two replicates were substantially different, indicating patchiness of physical characteristics on a small spatial scale (metres).

LAO was detected at 7 stations in 2010. There was little evidence of change at the majority of stations, and the overall area within which LAO was observed remains very similar to that observed in previous surveys. In general the hydrocarbon concentrations were low or very low and UCM and NPD content were indicative of weathered material being present throughout the survey area.

For the majority of trace metals the data show no clear trends or gradients which could be associated with platform activities. Three elements – barium, cadmium, and lead – exhibited very similar concentration patterns. These were the only elements which indicated a ‘footprint’ which was spatially related to the platform location. A similar association was evident in the 2008 data.

The macrobenthic community was numerically dominated by amphipods which were also the most taxonomically rich group. There was a general tendency towards lower species richness and abundance at stations to the north of, and immediately to the south of, the platform, as was also noted in 2008.

The 2010 data for sediment composition, chemistry and macrobenthic biology suggest that there is an area immediately around the platform in which some degree of sediment alteration is present, and where there is a slightly lower macrobenthic community biomass and diversity relative to more distant stations. However, there are no stations which could be considered biologically impoverished compared to previous surveys.

Technical Summary

Sampling was conducted from the vessel Svetlomor 2 by personnel from AmC, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (MENR) and SOCAR. Sediment samples for physical and chemical analysis consisted of 2 replicates, while 3 replicates were taken for biological analyses. Analyses were carried out at AmC Caspian Environmental Laboratory.

In general the survey stations around the SDX-5 well site were found to have well sorted very fine silt sediments with low variation in metal and hydrocarbon concentrations.

Relationships were found to be present between metals Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn. With the exception of phenols all hydrocarbon parameters were interrelated, with the proportions of UCM and NPD indicating that all hydrocarbons present were weathered.

The macrobenthic community had a low abundance and species richness and was characteristic of the area and depth. Overall no relationship was found to exist between any of the measured variables and the community structure, with the low species richness and abundance likely being due to the depth of the survey area exceeding 500m.

Comparison to previous baseline data indicated change at one station adjacent to the well location. Samples from this station indicated the presence of WBM contaminated drill cuttings, with coarser grained sediments, very high concentrations of Ba and the absence of the metal relationships evident at all other stations.

Hydrocarbon analysis of samples from this position revealed an LAO signature indicating the presence of SBM in addition to the WBM. These samples also had a high proportion of NPD which suggests the likely presence of cuttings contaminated with LAO and also reservoir fluids.

LAO was detected in one other sample and two stations had slightly elevated concentrations of Ba.

Technical Summary

Sampling was conducted from the vessel Svetlomor 2 by personnel from AmC, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (MENR) and SOCAR. Sediment samples for physical and chemical analysis consisted of 2 replicates, while 3 replicates were taken for biological analyses. Analyses were carried out at AmC Caspian Environmental Laboratory.

The sediments around East Azeri were very poorly sorted with generally good agreement between replicate samples.Variation between metal concentrations was low.

Metal and hydrocarbon concentrations were, with the exception of Ba and Cd, within the range of baseline conditions for the ACG contract area, and in many instances were lower in 2010 than in 2008.

The condition of the macrobenthic community throughout the survey area was, in 2010, better than in 2008, and was closer to the original baseline conditions. There was no evidence that any physical or chemical parameter was associated with impaired community structure or function, although it was clear that the dominant taxonomic groups were more diverse and abundant in coarser sediments.

Specifically, the results of the 2010 survey show no evidence of sustained impact as a result of continuing platform drilling and production operations; there has (with the possible exception of Cd) been no evidence of direct contamination, and the diversity, abundance and biomass of the macrobenthic community has improved since 2008.

This project aimed at inventory training for 10-15 people, mainly from the four Ministries with a designated role in the management of obsolete pesticide stocks (MoA, MoE, MoEm, MoH). The training comprised training on the inventory process, health and safety during inventory, management of inventory data with PSMS, different approaches for stores and burial sites and on the job inventory training (practical part). The practical training was performed on sites of five former pesticide stores including one site where pesticides were buried and soil and groundwater sampling was trained. This World Bank project will be followed on by a TCP project approved by FAO regarding capacity building in pesticide management in Azerbaijan. The TCP project aims at (amongst others) a full national inventory, risk quantification and action plans for high risk sites. For repackaging, there is no project approved yet. In the evaluation of the training, the trainees were confident to be able to train others in order to perform a full national inventory. Further assistance might be needed on selected topics. The trainees did not see a problem concerning knowledge transfer. It is recommended to select trainees more carefully in the future. Ideally, the participants of the inventory training are the people doing the inventory and to keep all steps of the pesticide stockpile management cycle in mind during the individual steps in order to have funding for the following steps like repackaging, safeguarding and final disposal or destruction.