TEHRAN - The Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (COP-6) will be held in Baku, the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Ali Salajeqeh, the head of the Department of Environment, represents Iran in the meeting, IRNA reported.

According to the provisional agenda, on October 19 and 20, at the working sessions of the international event, it is planned to discuss a number of organizational matters, hear a report on the credentials and full powers of representatives to COP-6, and a report on the interim Secretariat of the Tehran Convention. In the same days, the work on the draft document “Ministerial Statement and Decisions” will be finalized.

On October 21, during the High-Level Segment, the Heads of Delegation of the Parties to the Tehran Convention and the Representative of the interim Secretariat of the Tehran Convention will make their statements for COP-6 participants. The report of the Bureau on the working sessions will be heard, and the Ministerial Statement and Decisions will be adopted.

After the closing ceremony of COP-6, a press conference will be held. Side events, planning within the Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties, will be announced by the interim Secretariat at a later date.

Tehran Convention

In 2003, the Caspian littoral states, comprising the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, and Turkmenistan, signed the (Tehran) Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea.

The Sea’s marine environment suffers from an enormous burden of pollution from oil extraction and refining to huge volumes of untreated sewage and industrial waste.

Following ratification by all five Governments of the Caspian littoral states, the Tehran Convention entered into force on the 12th of August 2006.

The objective of this Convention is the protection of the Caspian environment from all sources of pollution including the protection, preservation, restoration, and sustainable and rational use of the biological resources of the Caspian Sea.

The Tehran Convention serves as an umbrella legal instrument that not only aims at protecting the Caspian environment from all sources of pollution but also targets the preservation, restoration, and protection of the Caspian Sea species and habitats.

The Convention includes provisions on the sustainable and rational use of living resources of the Caspian Sea, environmental impact assessment and environmental monitoring, as well as research and development.

Further to the general obligations of the Tehran Convention, the littoral States are required to take all appropriate measures to achieve these objectives individually or jointly and to cooperate with international organizations to that end.

On the sidelines of the 6th summit of the Caspian Sea littoral states which was held in Ashgabat on June 29, President Ebrahim Raisi said the interaction of the Islamic Republic of Iran with its friends and neighbors is original, and this interaction and cooperation not only will lead to economic prosperity and increase the welfare of our nations, but also strengthen regional peace and stability and solve the problems of the Caspian Sea zone merely through its coastal countries.

This major strategy of the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue, regardless of international developments.

Caspian Sea environment endangered

The Caspian Sea is a unique natural reservoir on our planet. It is the world’s largest land-locked body of water, measuring around 392,600 square kilometers.

The Caspian basin has been isolated for over two million years and hosts a unique ecological system as a result.

Unfortunately, the Sea’s marine environment suffers from an enormous burden of pollution from oil extraction and refining, offshore oil fields, and huge volumes of untreated sewage and industrial waste.

Waste management in the Caspian Sea is on the verge of crisis and seriously threatens the Sea’s environment.

In addition to waste, leachate enters the sea through rivers or rainfall, and because the severity of leachate pollution is very high, it imposes a serious threat to the marine environment.

According to the Department of Environment, the Caspian Sea is in “critical condition” with oil tankers alone dumping over 120,000 tons of pollutants annually. Sewage from cities bordering the sea exacerbates pollution.

MG