Caspian Sea 2011

State of the Environment of the Caspian Sea

4.4 Air emissions All countries have joined an international treaty that sets general rules and goals for confronting climate change - the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Under the Convention, countries are required to fulfil various reporting requirements. The Russian Fed- eration is an Annex I party to the UNFCCC, while Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are non-Annex I parties. National data can be obtained from greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, though data collection is not always reliable and up to date. Initial Nation- al Communication Papers are available for Iran in 2003 and for Turkmenistan in 2000 - amended in 2006. are available for Kazakhstan and the Rus- sian Federation submitted National Communica- tions in 2009. Second National Communication of Azerbaijan was submitted in 2010. There is a lack of specific knowledge about air pollutants and greenhouse gases emissions at the regional level. Regional data is difficult to obtain and as- sess due to a sparsity of knowledge on air pollut- ants and greenhouse gases. This chapter includes material from the Environmental Performance Reviews for Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Azerbaijan: Total emissions of air pollutants from both static and mobile sources have fallen since 1990 due to reduced industrial activity and the recession. In 1990, total discharges into the air from static sources amounted to 2.1 million tonnes, while in 2002 the figure was only 217,000 tonnes. During the same period, emissions from transport have increased due to a rapid growth in car ownership and use. Traffic is burgeoning in urban areas, but vehicle registration, inspection and maintenance fall short of what is needed to support efforts to improve air quality. Poor fuel quality and ageing vehicles worsen emission problems. (UNECE 2004). Level of emissions in 2005 was 1,054,300 tons and automobile trans- port accounted for 47% of total emissions (SNC).

The Volga River remains a pollution hot spot of the northern Caspian Basin. Therefore, fur- ther investigations, monitoring and an appro- priate River Basin Management Programme are needed. Due to its regional impact, the latter is recommended to be included within a regional framework (TACIS 2009a). Turkmenistan: The main sources of pollution in the Caspian coastal zone of Turkmenistan are exploration and production of oil and natural gas, chemical industry, energy and transport. The largest industrial area in the Caspian Sea coastal zone are the Turkmenbashi complex of oil refineries (Turkmenbashi Refinery), oil de- posit Kenar, power plants, the sea port in the city of Turkmenbashi, Khazar chemical plant in Khazar, Production Association “Garabogazsul- fat” in Bekdash. The problem of clearing the Soymonov Bay area of 8 km 2 , which is separated from the sea by the dike, is persistent in the city of Turkmenbashi. A series of planned important environmental measures outlined in the National Environmen- tal Action Plan aimed at prevention of further pollution of the Soymonov Bay. At the same time a complex series of scientific, research and monitoring measures aimed at the restoration of the natural resources of the Soymonov Bay have been carried out. Following an assessment of these various documents, it can be concluded that there are important knowledge gaps, making it difficult to calculate any trends on discharges into water bodies. The information available is still of a low calibre with sources of pollution inadequately described, river fluxes poorly quantified, and in- puts from diffuse sources not properly analyzed, making it impossible to make comparable esti- mates of pollution loads and fluxes.

The emission inventory system in Azerbaijan is based on annual emission reports which op-

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