Environmental challenges in the Caspian Sea and international responsibility of its littoral states

Abstract

The main challenges facing the environment of the Caspian Sea include the water level rise, environmental pollutions, the entrance of exotic species to the Caspian Sea, loss of the flora reservoirs and eutrophication. These challenges forced the coastal states to conclude the Framework Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in 2003. The long duration of time taken to adopt this convention and its two protocols, non-significance of two other protocols , the competition over energy issues in the sea and conflict of opinions concerning the legal regime have affected the level of cooperation among five coastal states in this field. This analytical-descriptive study seeks to answer this fundamental question: “What is the responsibility of the Caspian littoral states for environmental damage?" With the reviews, we can say that the Caspian Sea's coastal states are responsible individually or collectively for their own omission and actions resulting in the environmental damages. They have to recover damages through the restitution or the compensation. It should be noted that the speed up of argument over the legal regime may reduce the environmental problems of the sea.