Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The discussion of a draft agreement on cooperation in the field of prevention of emergency situation and active response measures on the Caspian Sea kicked off in Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat on December 18.

Turkmen Foreign Ministry said this is the second meeting of authorized representatives of the Caspian littoral states- Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan.

The first meeting took place on April 15-17, 2013 in Ashgabat.

The draft agreement was worked out by the Turkmen side in accordance with President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov's initiative expressed during the third summit of heads of the Caspian littoral countries in Baku in November 2010.

Turkmenistan considers it reasonable to create a new cooperation mechanism-International ecological dialogue on the Caspian Sea under the auspices of the UN to consolidate efforts of the Caspian littoral countries in environmental protection.

The Caspian Sea is the world's largest intra-basin that is not associated with the World Ocean, which has a climate value. It is unique due to various flora and fauna, including the world's largest shoal of sturgeon (90 present of the world reserves).

Today the Caspian region has become the fastest growing industrial, transport and resort centre. Therefore, the issue of establishing international cooperation is of particular importance to create a single and robust system of ecological security of the Caspian Sea.

Experts believe there are a number of prerequisites for possible pollution of the Caspian Sea. Among those are the development of hydrocarbon reserves in the sea and the surrounding areas, the high density of population and industry in the adjacent areas, intensive agricultural development in the valleys which have rivers flowing into them, the lack of a river to sea explicit geochemical barrier and a closed basin.

Establishing a single monitoring group is important for resolving the environmental problems of the Caspian Sea, according to experts. The Caspian littoral countries should develop a joint program on the protection of coastal areas.

President of National Ecological Forecasting Center Telman Zeynalov believes currently the Caspian Sea is polluted with waste water and technological facilities rather than with oil.

Another factor which impacts the environment of the Caspian Sea is that the coastal countries keep a large fleet in the sea and naval ships regularly dump their ballast water to the basin, according to the expert.