Following the historic signing of the “Ashgabat Decision” on the location and arrangements of the Tehran Convention Secretariat by the Caspian littoral countries on 30 May 2014, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) of UNEP at its first session accepted and approved to carry out the administration of the Tehran Convention Secretariat for the protection of the marine environment of the Caspian Sea and decided to establish a Trust Fund to that effect.

The conclusion of the Tehran Convention between Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan in 2003, hailed by the UN Secretary General as an instrument for peace and stability in the region, marked the determination of the Caspian countries to protect and preserve the unique ecosystem of the Caspian Sea.

At their fifth Conference of the Parties (COP5) to the Tehran Convention in Ashgabat, 28-30 May 2014, ministers and high-level government officials of the Caspian littoral states agreed to establish the Secretariat of the Convention, under the administration of UNEP. The Secretariat, which since 2003 has been administered ad interim by the UNEP Regional Office for Europe in Geneva, will from 2015 operate from the Caspian Sea region, following a four-year rotation system of the Parties. Azerbaijan will be the first host country and the Secretariat will be based in its capital Baku, near the shores of the Caspian Sea.

More Information: mahir.aliyev@unep.org