Azernews.Az

By Vugar Khalilov

Baku is hosting an international conference to discuss fluctuations in the level of the Caspian Sea, Azernews reports.

The hybrid international conference on the topic "Caspian Sea level fluctuations, forecasting, and adaptation measures in the face of climate change" has been organized by the Azerbaijani Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Experts from Caspian countries, representatives of international organizations, and foreign experts are participating in the conference.

Azerbaijani Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Mukhtar Babayev addressed the conference participants in a video format.

In his video address, Azerbaijani Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Mukhtar Babayev mentioned the current Caspian Sea problems, Azerbaijan's efforts to this effect, the importance of national and regional adaptation plans, and regional cooperation through the "Framework Convention on the Protection of the Environment of the Caspian Sea".

Azerbaijan's Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources is carrying out a variety of efforts to clean up the Caspian basin, Babayev stressed.

According to him, the ministry also works and conducts research on the problem of the Caspian Sea's decreasing water level.

"Regional cooperation is being carried out, in this direction, with experts of the Caspian Sea littoral states and specialized institutions," Babayev underlined.

Issues of strengthening collaboration for defining national and regional adaptation strategies are being discussed during the conference, taking into account present and predicted Caspian Sea level changes, as well as climate and level projections.

Along with the Caspian Sea issues, experts are debating the findings of the intergovernmental expert group on the climate change assessment report, which was presented at the 56th session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) of the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn (June 2022).

Moreover, the participants are exchanging views about the research conducted on the increase in climate change rates over the previous decade and the future fluctuations.

On June 29, five Caspian littoral state leaders (Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Russia) met in Ashgabat to address the environmental issues related to the Caspian basin, as well as economic, transportation, and security concerns.

The heads of the coastal governments signed a final statement at the end of the sixth Caspian Summit, vowing to utilize the region's resources for peaceful purposes.

The presidents confirmed a number of principles of activities, that is “the use of the Caspian Sea for peaceful purposes, turning it into a zone of peace, good neighborliness, friendship, and cooperation, resolving all issues related to the Caspian Sea by peaceful means," reads the final communiqué.

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