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Eastern Caspian
Environment and Security
In the past, the notion of security was pri-
marily conceived in terms of neutralizing
military threats to the territorial integrity and
political independence of a state. However,
in recent decades, it has been considerably
broadened through incorporation of non-
conventional threats and factors promoting
tension and conflicts.
This report considers the role and impact
of environmental factors in securing hu-
man safety and sustained development of
the eastern Caspian Sea region, including
the parts of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan
opening onto the Caspian Sea. Furthermore,
the analysis presented here introduces a
security perspective as it seeks to identify
those environmental, socio-economic and
political issues that are profoundly affecting
the livelihoods of the populations and could
lead to social tensions and instability.
The environment and security approach
aims not only at comprehending and re-
solving local and regional environmental
problems but also at reducing the potential
for tensions and improving cooperation and
stability. This also concerns actions targeted
at specific issues in the so-called “environ-
mental hotspots”, identified and prioritized
through public consultations, joint assess-
ments, and information from authoritative
international and national sources.
The report is a product of a comprehensive
process that started with a study of the ex-
isting literature and information available
on the Caspian region. In particular, ana-
lytical work done by the Caspian Environ-
mental Programme (CEP) and the eastern
Caspian countries from 1998 to 2007 has
been extensively used throughout the En-
vironment and Security Initiative (ENVSEC)
assessment. The CEP is an umbrella pro-
gramme of the five littoral states and group
of international donor organisations, and
is financed by the Global Environment Fa-
cility (GEF), the World Bank (WB), the Eu-
ropean Union (EU) through its TACIS pro-
gramme, the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), and United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP). Through
its ten thematic centres operated from 1998
to 2002
1
the CEP has extensive monitor-
ing and research capacities able to carry
out an in-depth analysis of Caspian envi-
ronmental issues. The Programme’s main
research output is the 2002 Trans-diagnos-
tic Analysis (TDA), and its 2007 Revisit. For
these reasons the present ENVSEC report
Introduction and executive summary