The plenary session of the Caspian Environmental Summit was held in Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan.
Operative Information Center-OMM reports that President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev addressed the event.
Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov: I would like to give the floor to the respected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, His Excellency Mr. Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev. Please.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in his address: Dear Serdar Gurbanguliyevich.
Dear summit participants.
First of all, I would like to thank the President of Turkmenistan for initiating the Caspian Environmental Summit. I am confident that the summit will help strengthen our cooperation in addressing the environmental challenges facing the Caspian Sea.
The Caspian Sea has connected our countries and peoples for centuries. Its economic and strategic importance is growing. Major transport and energy routes cross the Caspian, and large international projects are being implemented there. Under these circumstances, preserving the Caspian as a space of peace, stability and constructive partnership is especially important. This serves the interests of all Caspian littoral states and creates the conditions needed to further develop our cooperation.
At the same time, special attention must be paid to the sea’s environmental condition. Protecting the Caspian’s unique ecosystem is a shared task for all littoral states. Over the years, our countries have established an extensive treaty and legal framework. Azerbaijan is a party to almost all five-party international legal instruments. The Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, signed in 2018, is of historic importance. It is the result of many years of joint work by the five Caspian states.
One of the Caspian’s most serious problems is its shallowing. The sea level has been falling for many years. Unfortunately, this process has accelerated considerably in recent times, and the situation continues to deteriorate. A significant reduction in the sea’s area is being observed. Its total surface area has already decreased by more than 20,000 square kilometres. If current trends continue, the consequences could be catastrophic. The problem of shallowing is not limited to environmental considerations. Falling sea levels directly affect our countries’ interests, people’s lives in coastal areas, the economy and transport. We are seeing the shoreline recede, ecosystems change and ports and other coastal infrastructure face operational problems. The falling Caspian level has exposed approximately 30,000 hectares of land in the Azerbaijani sector of the sea alone.
At the sixth Caspian Summit in Ashgabat in 2022, I proposed establishing special expert groups to identify the causes of the Caspian’s shallowing and take measures to prevent a further decline in its level. The years since then have confirmed the urgency of this initiative. We must move beyond general discussion of the problem and establish a permanent mechanism for cooperation and monitoring the implementation of decisions. First and foremost, we need to identify the full range of factors contributing to the fall in the Caspian Sea’s level and obtain an objective scientific assessment of how the situation may develop.
It is clear that the decline in the Caspian’s level is not linked solely to climate change. One of the main causes is reduced river flow, along with anthropogenic factors associated with economic activity. It is also important to assess the potential long-term consequences of these changes and take them into account in decisions made today. This approach will allow us to implement the necessary measures in time and minimise the effects of any further decline in sea levels. We believe that the necessary legal framework, scientific capacity and experience of cooperation provide a solid foundation for achieving concrete practical results. The Caspian is our shared asset. Protecting its unique ecosystem and passing it on to future generations is our shared responsibility. I hope today’s summit will be an important step towards that goal.
Thank you for your attention.
President Serdar Berdimuhamedov: Dear Ilham Heydar oglu, thank you very much. I thank you for your substantive address. Improving the Caspian Sea’s environmental condition is among the priorities of Turkmenistan’s domestic and foreign policy, just as it is for brotherly Azerbaijan. We are ready to continue cooperating with our partners across the full range of the Caspian environmental agenda.
Once again, thank you for your constructive address.
The plenary session of the Caspian Environmental Summit was held in Turkmenbashi on October 9.
Operative Information Center-OMM reports that President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev addressed the event.
The plenary session of the Caspian Environmental Summit is being held in Turkmenbashi on October 9.
Operative Information Center-OMM reports that President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev addressed the event.
