Caviar lovers may benefit from a five-nation deal entering into force from Saturday meant to clean up the badly polluted Caspian Sea.
OSLO — Caviar lovers may benefit from a five-nation deal entering into force from Saturday meant to clean up the badly polluted Caspian Sea.
The Caspian Convention -- grouping Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan -- is the first legally binding document on any subject adopted by the five shoreline states with widely differing political systems.
The accord mirrors existing deals for the Mediterranean or Baltic seas and aims to stop pollution, protect wildlife, monitor the environment and work out joint responses to any emergencies. It formally goes into force on Aug. 12.
"The Caspian Sea's fragile environment is extremely vulnerable to the region's current boom in oil and gas exploration," said Achim Steiner, head of the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP).
"Climate extremes and economic and political challenges also put pressure on the Caspian's natural resources," he said in a statement. Environmentalists say the deal, which lacks enough financing, is a belated start.
Caspian sturgeon, the fish whose black caviar eggs are one of the world's most expensive delicacies, are close to extinction because of decades of overfishing, dams that block access to spawning grounds and pollution.
"This is a first step in a very fragile area that is in desperate need of protection," said David Santillo, a senior scientist at the Greenpeace environmental group. "The convention will need some kind of teeth to impose sanctions."
Regional oil output reached 1.9 million barrels per day in 2004 and reserves of oil in the region rival those of the United States, UNEP said. Many oil majors such as Exxon Mobil and BP have stakes in the Caspian fields.
The slightly salty sea covers 370,886 sq km (143,200 sq mile) and is sometimes called the world's biggest lake.
Santillo said the fate of sturgeon and Caspian seals -- the only seal species in a landlocked lake or sea outside Russia's Lake Baikal -- would symbolise whether the convention worked.
Countries aim to cut pollution -- toxic and radioactive wastes, agricultural run-off, sewage and leaks from oil extraction and refining. About 11 million people live around the Caspian shores.
Among other goals is trying to understand changes in sea levels, perhaps linked to earthquakes or sediment shifts.
The Caspian dropped 4 metres (13 ft) from 1880 to 1977 before an abrupt reversal in 1977 flooded coasts and caused billions of dollars in damage, UNEP said.
Source: Reuters
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