Environmental situation in Caspian Sea discussed at Baku-Moscow-Astana video conference
Baku, November 1 (AZERTAC). Environmental problems of the Caspian Sea have been widely discussed at a Baku-Moscow-Astana video conference organized by Russian RIA Novosti news agency.
The conference marked the anniversary of the Tehran Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea
Rasim Sattarzade, an expert and head of the section for ecological policy and environmental protection at the Azerbaijani Ministry for Ecology and Natural Resources, said that prevention of pollution was one of the most topical issues. He noted that a water-treatment facility was being built in Sumgayit, Azerbaijan`s largest industrial city. Sattarzade added such facilities would be constructed in all regions of the country.
Alexey Kucheyko, a Russian expert on earth remote probing, the sea needed common space monitoring.
He explained that each Caspian state carried out partial monitoring.
Boris Golubov, a senior scientist of the Institute for Dynamics of Geospheres of the Russian Academy of Sciences, agreed with the idea. He wants Caspian states to have a common policy on protection of the sea and monitoring of the seabed.
Mels Yeleusizov, Chairman of the Ecological Union of Associations and Enterprises of Kazakhstan “Tabigat”, said that the convention signed 19 years ago was not backed by actions. He reminded that, unlike the Mexican Gulf, the sea was closed and will not recover the same way.
The objective of this convention is “the protection of the Caspian environment from all sources of pollution including the protection, preservation, restoration and sustainable and rational use of the biological resources of the Caspian Sea”.
In accordance with Articles 7 - 11 of the Convention the Parties undertake an obligation to take measures to prevent, reduce and control pollution from the land-based sources, seabed activities, vessels, as well as pollution from other human activities including land reclamation and associated coastal dredging and construction of dams.
Convention also provides for appropriate measures to prevent the introduction into the Caspian Sea and to control and combat invasive alien species, which threaten ecosystems, habitats or species.
The 2003 Convention also provides for cooperation of the Parties in environmental monitoring, developing harmonized discharge and emission standards, conducting environmental research and development and exchanging environmental information.
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