The ’Caspian Sea State of the Environment Report’ presents a sober diagnosis of the challenges faced by the Sea and its marine environment. The report is the second in a row of analytical overviews underlying the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (Tehran Convention). The threats remain similar to those diagnosed in 2011, when the first such report was produced. In response, littoral countries plan to rehabilitate land contaminated by oil, create protected areas, develop aquaculture and increase the use of organic fertilizers, among other measures.
Ongoing urbanisation and population growth is putting pressure on the region’s waste management facilities. Since 2013, the number of people living on the Sea’s western coast has increased by almost 700,000. The quality of seawater has degraded in the western part of the Sea and, in some areas, it is classified as polluted.
Only a small proportion of the waste generated in the Caspian region is made harmless and reused. For example, in the Russian Federation, around 5 per cent of total waste is recycled, while only 2.6 per cent of the waste is reused. Landfill sites are commonly used to store the solid waste, but few have licenses or operational permits: for example, only 8 out of the 28 landfill sites for municipal solid waste in the districts bordering the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan have them.
The Sea’s fossil fuel reserves are estimated to be one of the planet’s largest. The economies of all littoral states largely depend on the oil and gas industry. Yet this is putting significant pressure on the Sea’s environment. Climate change and its consequences, including sea level fluctuations, are having a significant negative impact on the region’s environment, affecting different sectors of the countries’ economies, such as fisheries, transport and construction.