Meeting under Aktau Protocol

On 8-10 October 2024, Implementation and Operational Authorities Meeting under The Protocol Concerning Regional Preparedness, Response and Co-operation in Combating Oil Pollution Incidents (Aktau Protocol) to the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (Tehran Convention) will be held in Aktau, Kazakhstan. The participants of the meeting will review and finalise the draft Caspian Sea Plan Concerning Regional Co-operation in Combating Oil Pollution in Cases of Emergency (Aktau Protocol Plan) and provide their comments and proposals on unresolved issues.

As noted in the draft Aktau Protocol Plan, several thousand ships cross the Caspian Sea every year, many of which are oil tankers and it is estimated that millions of tons of oil are transported annually. The shipping traffic is expected to increase substantially in the near future with the growth of the oil industry in the Caspian Sea region. The permanent presence of risk associated with this industry calls for co-ordination of all emergency response resources at both national and regional level. The Tehran Convention and Aktau Protocol provide the legal framework for actions concerning regional co-operation in combating marine pollution. These legal instruments oblige the Caspian countries to initiate, both individually and jointly, the actions required in order to effectively prepare for and respond to marine oil pollution incidents.

The National Contingency Plans of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan and other documents will be presented at the meeting. Participants will discuss activities under the Aktau Protocol implementation for 2025 and 2026. The outcome of discussions will be presented at the following Preparatory Committee Meeting to COP7 to be included in the Tehran Convention Work Programme.

The agenda of the event, draft Aktau Protocol Plan and other documents of the meeting are available for downloading on the Tehran Convention website.

Source: the Tehran Convention.
In the photo: the Caspian Sea coast, Aktau, Kazakhstan, 2020. Author N.R. Shumeyko.

 

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