Connect: GRID-Arendal Annual Report 2017
Convention support – the Caspian Sea GRID-Arendal is engaged in several parts of the world providing support for agreements and conventions designed to protect the environment. The Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea – called the Tehran Convention after the city in which it was signed – is one of them.
The Convention includes the five states that border the Caspian Sea: Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan. GRID-Arendal and the European office of UN Environment have supported the development of the Convention Secretariat since 2006. In 2017, this involved the further development of the Caspian Environmental Information Centre – a virtual information and communication tool of the Secretariat. The project was supported by a grant from British Petroleum Azerbaijan and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Funding from UN Environment contributed to staffing the Secretariat for 2018, also managed by GRID-Arendal. The five Caspian countries continue to discuss the establishment of a permanent secretariat with an agreement expected to be announced at the6thMinisterial of the Conference of Parties to the Convention to be held in Baku this year. At the same time, implementation of the Convention and work on its protocols continues. Moscow Nijni-Novgorod Ivanovo Rybinsk Vologda Iaroslavl Tver Riazan Orel Kursk Tula Petrozavodsk LADOGA LAKE ONEGA LAKE V o l g a V o l g a V o l g a Saratov Samara Ulianovsk Saransk Kazan Kirov Syzran Penza Kotlas Bielgorod Ioshkar-Ola Voronezh D o n V o l g a RUSSIA Tambov VOLGA-BALTIC CANAL MOSCOW-VOLGA CANAL
The Parties are working on important environmental monitoring, assessment and reporting requirements and finalizing an implementation plan for a protocol on combating oil pollution incidents. The countries have also agreed on a methodology for preparing a second State of the Caspian Sea Environment Report. Progress was made in aligning the environmental assessment and monitoring activities by the countries’ national coastal institutions to provide data for the report. And the set-up of a website and thesaurus for information pertaining to the state and management of the Caspian Sea environment was improved. The Parties agreed that support to the Tehran Convention process needs to be increased, and that a well-equipped and fully staffed Secretariat is needed to secure future implementation and success. All agree that the framework created by the Convention and a strong operational Secretariat in Baku have a great potential to secure cooperation which will actually help to protect and sustain the marine environment of the Caspian Sea. Ufa Magnitogorsk Orenburg Yekaterinburg Nijni-Taghil Perm Berezmki Cheliabinsk K a m a K a m a a m
Saint Petersburg
Syktyvkar
Kudymkar
Ijevsk
Smolensk
Briansk
Kharkyv
Orsk
Aktobe
D
n
o
V a Volgograd o l g
VOLGA-DON CANAL
U
UKRAINE
KAZAKHSTAN
Caspian Sea Basin
UKRAINE
r a l
Donetsk
Donetsk
Mariupol
Topography, metres
Rostov Rostov D o n
V
o l
Mariupol
g
a
a
Below sea level
b
AZOV SEA
0 200 500
m
E
Atyrau
Aralsk
Atyrau
Elista
Astrakhan
KAZAKHSTAN
Krasnodar
1,000 3,000 4,000 2,000
RUSSIA
Novorossiisk
Stavropol
ARAL SEA
Karalkapakia
BLACK SEA
Groznyi Vladikavkaz
k
Sukhumi
e
Aktau
r
e
UZBEKISTAN
T
Makhachkala
Poti
Tskhinvali
Nukus
Daghestan
GEORGIA
Batumi
Derbent
Tbilisi
Dashoguz
CASPIAN SEA
Trabzon
K
u r
Urgench
a
KARA BOGAZ GOL
ARMENIA
Sumgait
Yerevan
AZERBAIJAN
Erzurum
K
TURKEY
u r
Baku
a
Turkmenbashi
Nakhichevan NAKHICHEVAN (AZER.)
TURKMENISTAN
Khazar
Gyzyl Arbad Balkanabat
Ashgabad KARA-KUM CANAL
s
a k
r
A
Tabriz
Mardin
A
t
r
e
k
Gasan Kuli
SYRIA
Rasht
d d
Bender
u u
Ramsar
R R
Mossul
Babol
i d i d
Gorgan
a f
S
Map by Ieva Rucevska and Philippe Rekacewicz. From Vital Caspian Graphics 2 – Opportunities, Aspirations and Challenges, 2012.
Qazvin
Sari
Mashad
Kirkuk
Tehran
IRAQ
IRAN
Baghdad
18
Ispahan
Ahvaz
0
200
400
600
800 km
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