Publication Name

Environment and Security

ally, Caspian Sea states have been able to

develop a positive dialogue on how to deal

with environmental issues in the region.

Local environmental authorities have been

entrusted with decision-making power over

environmental performance in the Caspian

area, a measure accompanied by improved

financial resources allowing them to miti-

gate some of the environmental problems.

National environmental legislation and

regulations were improved and, for exam-

ple, Kazakhstan approved in 2007 a new

Ecological Code

including a critically new

approach to the issues of environment pro-

tection, including

inter alia

special status

for the Caspian Sea, and a zero-emissions

policy for the land and sea.

Several national and international oil compa-

nies have introduced ISO 14000 standards

addressing various aspects of environmen-

tal management and better technologies for

environmentally safer oil exploration and

production. Energy companies and littoral

states have embarked on remediation ac-

tivities on polluted land and oil-storage pits.

Globally significant biodiversity regions

such as the Khazar reserve and the Ural

river delta have received valuable support.

Mass media and public organisations have

helped draw attention to the issues of oil

industry development and made ecological

information more transparent for the pub-

lic. Related activities include media tours

around the Caspian, public Environmen-

tal Impact Assessment (EIA) hearings and

ecological expertise, and regular coverage

of environmental issues in the local and na-

tional newspapers.

On the other hand, a number of existing

and emerging environment and security

problems are still unsolved and appropri-

ate action is needed at both local and na-

tional level in cooperation with neighbouring

countries, as recommended in the conclud-

ing chapter of this report.

and a considerable threat for vulnerable so-

cieties such as coastal communities and

ecosystems. The Caspian Sea coast is

highly vulnerable to rapid and destructive

fluctuations in sea level. The latter, together

with other natural hazards, including storm

surges, earthquakes and regional epidem-

ics, presents a serious risk to human se-

curity and loss of livelihoods for the whole

Caspian Sea region.

A number of these ecological problems

were inherited from the past, whereas new

challenges are arising from the region’s

economic development since independ-

ence. As the economic life of the region is

closely linked to the development of energy

resources, it is an open question whether

adequate measures are being taken to en-

sure environmental safety and sustainable

development of the eastern Caspian. An-

swering such a question is a complex task.

On the one hand, many positive initiatives

have been implemented. For example, the

natural canal between the Caspian Sea and

the Kara Bogaz Gol has been reopened, al-

lowing the bay to fill once more with water,

which has in turn significantly improved its

bio-diversity. National authorities consider

the Caspian Sea region as an important and

vulnerable area since all five Caspian states

signed the Framework Convention for the

Protection of the Caspian Sea Marine Envi-

ronment (the Convention was signed in Te-

hran in 2003 and came into force in 2006).

The Caspian Environmental Programme

(CEP) was instrumental in launching this

Convention, facilitating the Transboundary

Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) of the Caspian

Sea in 2002 and its update in 2007, estab-

lishing expert working groups and regional

thematic centres. Several international

projects and national actions have been

catalyzed and implemented since then

Signatory states have also developed Na-

tional Caspian Action Plans, which aim to

implement nationally the Framework Con-

vention. These initiatives show that gener-