Environmental cooperation for the Caspian Sea
- Geographical scope: The marine environment of the Caspian Sea and its littoral countries.
- Time frame: Since 2003, when the Tehran Convention was adopted.
- Priority area: Environmental governance
- Partners: Civil society, including Global Water Challenge.
- Donors: Caspian littoral countries, the Global Environment Facility and the private sector.
- Contribution to SDGs: Goal 14 on Life Below Water and Goal 17 on Partnerships for Goals.
Environmental challenge
The Caspian basin has been isolated for over two million years and hosts a unique ecological system as a result. The Caspian sturgeon and the rare fresh water seal are among the most famous of the over 400 species that are endemic to the Caspian Sea. The vast river system and extensive wetlands attract millions of migrating birds and are the habitat of diverse flora and fauna.
The Caspian basin is also rich in oil and gas. The Sea’s marine environment suffers from an enormous burden of pollution from oil extraction and refining, offshore oil fields, and huge volumes of untreated sewage and industrial waste, introduced mainly by the Volga River.
Project
The United Nations Environment Programme hosts the interim Secretariat of the Tehran Convention for the protection of the Caspian Sea and its marine environment. The Convention was signed in 2003 and is the first legally-binding regional agreement signed by all Caspian littoral states - Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan.
The Tehran Convention serves as an umbrella legal instrument laying down general requirements and the institutional mechanism for environmental protection in the Caspian Sea region. As stressed by the former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, the signing of the Tehran Convention was a “significant step forward for the region” that could “benefit the health and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people”.
Protocols on Environmental Impact Assessment, Pollution from Land-based Sources, Biodiversity Protection and for Preventing, Responding to and Cooperating on Oil Spills have been signed under the treaty.
News
- Caspian littoral states agree to start neighbourhood watch for the environment
- First Caspian Sea Protocol enters into force
Links
Any questions?
For more information please contact mateusz.benko@un.org.
