Documents

Public Participation is stimulated in key international instruments such as the 1998 Aarhus Convention (Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Matters), signed and ratified by many of the Caspian Sea countries, and builds on the requirements of the Commission on Sustainable Development to promote the implementation of Agenda 21 and the follow-up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development.  Public participation is required within the Aarhus Convention and is in line with the principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

We are pleased to announce the publication of the Proceedings of the Scientific Conference on the Climate Change in the Caspian Sea region. This collection includes all the abstracts selected by the Organizing Committee of the Conference. In addition, in the Proceedings you will find introductory words by key speakers of each section and welcome addresses from the guests of the Conference.

Scientific Conference on 27 and 28 October 2021 brought well over 80 leading scientists from the countries bordering the Caspian Sea together, to take stock and give a boost to research in the region underpinning the climate change policies and actions of Azerbaijan, IR Iran, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan.

In 2001 the initial Caspian Regional Stakeholder Analysis was commissioned with the objective of identifying major stakeholder groups, their interests and impact on the Caspian environment. Also identification of potential conflicts between stakeholder groups was a key task of the initial study. In summer 2004 this follow-up study was conducted in order to observe trends in stakeholder interests, perceptions and concerns as they pertain to activities of the Caspian Environment Programme.

Map of Oil Spill Accidents Since 2000

Produced by Manana Kurtrubadze for the SOE 2018

Oil Production & Consumption 2006-2016

Produced by Manana Kurtrubadze for the SOE 2018.

Natural Gas Production and Consumption.

Produced by Manana Kurtrubadze for the SOE 2018.

This report analyzes oil and natural gas in the Caspian region, focusing primarily on the littoral (coastal) countries of the Caspian Sea (Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran). A discussion of Uzbekistan is also included. While not a Caspian coastal state, a considerable amount of Uzbekistan's territory, along with its energy resources, lies in the geological Caspian basins.

The combination of foreign investment and rising energy prices allowed the coastal countries to shift from diverting oil extraction for local use to supplying both regional and world oil markets. The ability of countries to export greater volumes of Caspian crude oil and natural gas will depend on how quickly domestic energy demand rises in those countries, how quickly they can build additional export infrastructure to global markets, and whether expensive projects to develop Caspian resources can attract sufficient investment.