Meeting of the Caspian Environmental Summit

Attending the meeting were President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov.

On the sidelines of the summit, Vladimir Putin held a separate meeting with the heads of Azerbaijan and Iran.

* * *

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Berdimuhamedov, colleagues.

Our Turkmenistani friends have proposed a timely and helpful initiative to hold the Caspian Environmental Summit. This initiative is truly important because the Caspian Sea – and I agree with our colleagues here – has enormous natural, economic, transport and, certainly, cultural and historical significance as one of the places where the entire Eurasian civilisation originated.

Russia prioritises joint work with our partners to protect and preserve the Caspian Sea ecosystem. Governments, business, social structures, and a broad range of scientists and professionals are involved in this work.

I share the opinion of my colleagues who have spoken here that one of the most pressing issues now is the shallowing of the Caspian Sea. We estimate that in the past 20 years, the Russian part of the Caspian shoreline alone has dried up by around 20,000 square kilometres. Russia has to earmark substantial budget allocations every year for dredging to facilitate navigation.

If the sea level continues to change at the same rate (an estimated average of minus 9 cm per year), this trend will trigger a series of adverse environmental consequences. I agree with your assessments, friends, that all these effects – the diminishing bioresources, the negative impact on fishing, and shoreline erosion – constitute a major threat to all of us.

The shallowing aggravates the socioeconomic situation in the Caspian region, affecting the investment appeal of the trans-Caspian logistics corridors, which may subsequently degrade the quality of life, eliminate jobs, and lead to other critical consequences.

Russian and foreign researchers indicate that climate change is the primary cause of the Caspian Sea’s shallowing. The rising mean annual temperatures directly affect the intensity of evaporation, the amount of precipitation, and the tributary inflow. The changing wind distribution is another mitigating factor. The formerly prevalent air masses from the Atlantic Ocean are giving way to hot, dry winds from Central Asia, further increasing evaporation.

The combination of these factors makes it imperative for our countries to take joint measures to preserve the ecosystem of the Caspian Sea. For this purpose, we consider it necessary to make full use of the potential offered by existing international organisations. I am referring, above all, to the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea – the so-called Tehran Convention of 2003.

At the most recent session of the Conference, held in the Iranian capital two weeks ago, an important agreement was reached on the swift coordination of an action plan concerning Caspian Sea level fluctuations, covering the period up to 2036. Russia also supports the idea of developing, within the framework of the Tehran Convention, a special protocol on Caspian Sea monitoring. In our view, such a document would help to systematise the exchange of information, not only on the shallowing of the sea but also on the full spectrum of other environmental risks, and to establish a mechanism for responding to them.

Our country is also actively engaged in the Coordinating Committee on Hydrometeorology of the Caspian Sea, whose 30^th anniversary session is scheduled for December this year in Ashgabat. We believe it would be useful to establish, within the framework of this Committee, a dedicated working group on climate issues. One of its tasks could be the long-term forecasting of Caspian Sea levels, with a 50-year horizon.

The Russian side also welcomes the decision, taken at the initiative of our Turkmenistani partners, to establish a special commission tasked with identifying the causes of the decline in the Caspian Sea level and developing comprehensive measures to counter the negative processes arising from its shallowing.

I would also like to inform you that the Russian Government is preparing a comprehensive programme to study changes in the Caspian Sea level and to minimise their negative consequences. The programme is designed to run until 2030. It provides for extensive research, the results of which we will, of course, share with all our neighbours.

I would also like to mention Russia’s proposal to create a digital twin of the Caspian Sea. This would be a highly accurate virtual model utilising AI algorithms to analyse patterns in evaporation, precipitation and river inflows. The model would make it possible to develop reliable scenarios for changes in the Caspian Sea’s water level. In my view, this is precisely the kind of area in which artificial intelligence can be put to effective use, processing vast amounts of data in a wholly objective manner.

The model could also be used to refine and adjust navigation routes and improve shipping safety. We invite our partners to consider this idea and, if possible, join us in putting it into practice.

A key area of our joint efforts is the careful and efficient use of the Caspian Sea’s water resources. Russia is ready to continue working with all the Caspian littoral states to reduce water losses, optimise water-use practices, and modernise irrigation systems and pumping stations. Russian companies have expertise across the entire water management sector, from designing and building canals and water pipelines to establishing industrial water recycling systems, digitally managing water facilities, and using satellite monitoring to track irrigation networks and identify areas of water loss. Naturally, they stand ready to work closely with interested partners.

I would emphasise that the extensive efforts required to preserve the Caspian ecosystem call not only for financial resources and interstate mechanisms, but also for highly qualified specialists with expertise across a wide range of natural sciences. Training such specialists is an important and timely task. In this connection, I would like to note that an international educational programme devoted to the comprehensive study of the Caspian Sea is being launched at Russia’s Sirius University of Science and Technology. The programme will give young specialists the opportunity to investigate real-world challenges in ecology, the economy and innovation. We warmly invite young people from your countries to join this collaborative effort.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that Russia has always advocated, and will continue to advocate, stronger cooperation among our countries to preserve the ecosystem of the Caspian region, ensure its sustainable development and improve people’s quality of life.

Thank you.