Caspian Environment Program

The Caspian Environment Erogram (CEP) was developed as a comprehensive response to the key environmental problems facing the region. As defined in the CEP Concept Paper, the overall goal of the CEP is: "Environmentally sustainable development, including living resources and water quality, so as to obtain the utmost long-term benefits for the human populations of the region, while protecting human health, ecological integrity and the regions sustainability for future generations"
The Caspian Environment Program is a regional umbrella program established by the Caspian littoral states and aided by the international agencies. Born out of a desire for regional agreements, including the Almaty Declaration on Environmental Cooperation on May 1994, the CEP was agreed to on June 1995 during a joint mission marked the start of a close partnership between the Region and the international community.
The CEP encompasses all five Caspian States (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan) and numerous international agencies, including the World Bank, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the European Union/Tacis. During the meetings held in Ramsar, Islamic Republic of Iran on May 1998, the CEP was launched officially. A Steering Committee has been established and the Caspian littoral states agreed that the Concept Paper produced during the previous year in collaboration with The World Bank forms the basis for the CEP. In addition, UNDP-led efforts towards a Global Environment Facility (CEF) Project for the Caspian region focusing on its priority transboundary issues was endorsed by the Caspian littoral states, and serves as the technical basis for the implementation of the CEP.
The Major transboundary thematic areas to be addressed by the CEP are:
· Public awareness and Involvement in the CEP
· Regional data and information Management systems
· Regional Assessment of contaminant levels
· Transboundary Biodiversity Priorities
· Sustainable management of fish resources and other commercially Exploited aquatic
Bioresources
· Integrated Transboundary Coastal Area planning and management
· Combating Coastal Area Planning and Management
· Sustainable Human Development and health
· Regional Emergency Response Actions
· Institutional, Legal, Regulatory and economic Frameworks for SAP implementation
· Strengthen Contaminant Abatement and Control Policies and Procedure
The output of the CEP at the end of the GEF and EU/Tacis intervention will be by July 2002:
· Effective Regional Intersectional (public and private sector) Coordination and Environmental management
· A transboundary Diagnostic Analysis, which will identify in each of the transboundary areas the core problems: the causal chain, potential solutions and outline possible projects
· National Caspian Action Plans will define however Caspian state will address its Caspian-related environmental problems (common and shared/transboundary) in the short or medium term. The states will use the TDA as the technical basis for prioritizing transboundary problems. Caspian Strategic Action Plan will define the actions to be taken at a regional level to address the core transboundary problems in the next ten years. The plan will identify specific projects and funding sources.

Contacts: Mr Bakhtiyar Muradov
Room 8, Government building, 40 Uzeir Hadjibeyov St
Baku-370016 Azerbaijan
Tel: (99412) 971785
Fax: (99412)-971786
E-mail: Caspian@caspian.in-baku.com
Internet: www.caspianenvironment.org