AZE.US
The Caspian Sea’s surface area has decreased by more than 20,000 square kilometers, and continued shallowing could have catastrophic consequences, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Oct. 9.
Aliyev made the remarks at the Caspian Environmental Summit in Turkmenbashi, where leaders discussed the accelerating decline of the world’s largest inland body of water.
The fall in the sea level has continued for years but has recently accelerated, Aliyev said. About 30,000 hectares of land have emerged in Azerbaijan’s sector alone as the shoreline has retreated.
The president said the problem extends beyond environmental damage. A changing shoreline affects communities, economic activity and transport, while creating risks for ports and other coastal infrastructure.
Call for Permanent Monitoring
Aliyev proposed establishing a permanent mechanism for cooperation and monitoring of decisions concerning the Caspian Sea. He said the littoral states must identify all factors contributing to the decline and produce a science-based assessment of how conditions could develop.
He recalled proposing special expert groups at the 2022 Caspian summit in Ashgabat to study the causes of the falling water level and develop measures to slow the decline.
Aliyev described preservation of the Caspian’s unique ecosystem as a shared responsibility of all five littoral states and called for the sea to remain a zone of peace, stability and constructive partnership. The reported surface-area loss was confirmed by Azerbaijan’s state news agency AZERTAC.
AZE.US