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Eastern Caspian
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Environment and Security
Human activities have taken a heavy toll on
the biodiversity of the region. One indicator
of the growing impact on the marine environ-
ment is the dramatic drop in the number of
Caspian seals from over 1 million a century
ago, to 350–400 000 in the 1970s and less
than 110 000 at present. Thousands of seals
have perished in mass die-offs. These events
attract considerable attention at a local and
international level. Initially excessive poach-
ing caused the reduction in the seal popula-
tion, but today the prime causes of extinction
are thought to be environmental pollution,
shortage of food, changes in the ecosystem,
climate warming and epidemics.
The level of the Caspian Sea has fallen and
risen, often rapidly, many times in the past.
The main factor affecting the fluctuating sea
level is thought to be changing climatic con-
ditions, particularly in the Volga river basin,
the source of 80% of the water in the sea.
Rising sea levels and natural hazards such
as storm surges affect vast areas, flooding oil
wells and infrastructure, which increases pol-
lution and damages already scarce farmland.
Earthquakes are also a potential hazard for
the region and its energy infrastructure, with
devastating consequences for the popula-
tion and the environment. Finally, other fac-
tors such as climate change will affect the re-
gion, for example by reducing sea-ice in the
winter, impacting on the breeding habits and
living conditions of Caspian seals and, more
broadly, the ecological system as a whole.
The eastern Caspian region has experienced
rapid change since independence in the ear-
ly 1990s. The booming energy sector holds
many opportunities but also considerable
challenges and risks. The region’s increasing
specialization in the extraction of fossil fuels,
combined with the degradation of marine bi-
ological resources, freshwater reserves and
agricultural land are the main sources of con-
cern from an environment and security per-
spective. Greater dependence on the energy
sector also makes the region more vulner-
able to any major changes in that quarter.
The Caspian Sea region must also strike a
balance between the economic gains from
rapid development of energy resources,
and the risk of over-exploitation and envi-
ronmental degradation, particularly in shore
and sea zones. Depletion of vital ecosystem
products would impact negatively on hu-
man development. Urban areas must deal
with very fast growth and increasing de-
pendency on the energy sector to fund such
development. At the same time rural areas
are facing deepening poverty and a deterio-
rating environment. These changes under-
mine the region’s resilience and heighten its
vulnerability to powerful social tensions.
Overuse of resources will have long-term
consequences that will affect the region long
after oil and gas resources have been used
up. There is a concern that once its energy
resources have gone, the region will have to
cope with the legacy of several decades of oil
and gas extraction (a polluted environment,
depleted biodiversity, etc.), but without the
financial resources to repair the damage.
The signature of the Tehran Convention by
all the Caspian states was a major step to-
wards enhanced protection of the Caspian
basin. However the littoral states still need
to develop a unified approach to sustainable
management of the economic and natural
resources of the Caspian region, opening
the way for less dependence on the energy
sector and better protection of its popula-
tion’s livelihoods.