Documents

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. 

The Tauw Consortium (TC) formed by Tauw bv - the Netherlands, Milieukontakt International (MKI) - the Netherlands, International HCH and Pesticides Association (IHPA) - Denmark and COWI A/S - Denmark, was selected by the World Bank in October 2009 to execute a Caspian regional POPs workshop in Azerbaijan. TC forms a strong OP, POP and hazardous chemicals team that has cooperated in different combinations in many projects in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Local partner was Mr. Islam Muslim Mustafayev the director of the Azerbaijan branch of the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network.

The workshop aiming at the improvement of obsolete pesticides management was held at the World Bank Office in Baku, from 7 till 11 December 2009 with participants from the five Caspian littoral states and donor organizations (World Bank, FAO). The workshop comprised sessions on: - An update on implementation of international requirements related to obsolete/ POPs pesticides - Development and strengthening of legal and institutional framework - Public awareness raising - Technical problems and priorities The workshop was held as an interactive workshop in which participants presented the current state of the abovementioned aspects of pesticide management for their country. Difficulties and gaps were discussed and ideas were developed in order to bridge the gaps identified. A legal gap analysis showed that in all countries there are gaps in legislation concerning the pesticides cycle. POPs often are not included and legislation needs to be aligned with international requirements. There is a lack of coordination between institutions and stakeholders in most countries. In many countries environmental and human health problems related to obsolete pesticide stocks are aggravated by a lack of awareness. Russia and Azerbaijan presented their experiences with inventory and technical difficulties. The presentations showed that there are problems with planning and coordination, a lack of environmentally sound storage capacity, a lack of knowledge concerning the scale of the problem (reliable and complete national inventory) and a lack of knowledge concerning handling of liquid pesticides. Action plans were presented, which for some countries like Russia, were plans of different options (signing the convention, detailed inventory, pilot on implementation PSMS). Also for Turkmenistan, ratification of the Stockholm Convention is a big challenge. For other countries like Azerbaijan, there is a follow up project about to start. Therefore the action plan for Azerbaijan comprises a number of defined steps already (capacity building, full national inventory). Iran presented an action plan for repackaging of obsolete pesticides in the Golestan province.